Mass Disturbance
by sandman7734
Summary: After having a freaky dream involving a Reaper and a Prothean beacon, I wake up on the Citadel in the Mass Effect universe with a biotic amp wired into my skull. Now I gotta help Shepard win a war while learning how to control my new powers. SI fic.
1. Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, BioWare does. And they do a damn good job of it, too. I also do not own anything I reference or joke about in this tale.**

**Yeah, I originally had no desire to do a self-insert story in anything. Ever. But, after reading a few good ones (credit to iNf3ctioNZ, Herr Wozzeck, and CPunchMaster for their great stories, you guys ROCK!), I felt compelled to write this. So, yeah, let's get on with it.**

**Also, I must warn you, this is gonna be VERY different from other ME self-inserts. How, you may ask? Well, wait and see. But, here's a heads-up: Tali is NOT the main love interest in this story. So there you go.**

**Warning: Story may contain horrendous language and excessive violence. It's a SI fic, what else did you expect?**

* * *

><p><em>"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." - <em>Unknown

_"There is no fate but what we make." _- Sarah Connor, Terminator series

_"Destiny's a bitch, huh?" _- Prophet, Crysis 2

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

I'm sitting back and relaxing on my bed at my dad's apartment, fighting my way through another match of _Mortal Kombat_ with some good old Godsmack blaring from my iPod stand. As I'm watching Johnny Cage chop Reptile's head in half with an epic fatality, my cell phone begins vibrating.

"Perfect timing," I muttered as I reached over to my bedside table and picked up my Sidekick, showing I had a text from Scott. Shrugging to myself, I opened the keyboard to see what he sent me, hitting the pause button on my iPod as an after-thought.

_"Yo, just recruited tali on haestrom._"

I smirked to myself. Scott was a good friend of mine, and a fellow avid gamer. The only problem was that he had never heard of_ Mass Effect_ until I got into it. So, I decided to introduce him to the series by letting him borrow the first one. He fell in love instantly. After letting him borrow it for a few days, I swapped it and let him borrow the second one yesterday. He was making good progress, apparently. My thumbs danced across the phone's keyboard as I responded.

"_Nice work. U still playing as FemShep?"_

As I waited for him to respond, I started another match on MK, choosing Raiden as my character and Stryker as my opponent. As a side note, it's almost impossible for me to take Stryker seriously anymore. Why? Because IGN posted all the fatalities of the 2011 _Mortal Kombat_ characters on Youtube, and 90 percent of the time, Stryker was the guy getting the most gruesome deaths. You know, like getting thrown through Scorpion's death-portals. Or getting his spined removed courtesy of Sub-Zero. Or the helicopter-like limb slicing that Baraka does. Fuck, he even suffered at the hands of his _own_ fatality of getting a grenade slammed into his chest! And, if that wasn't enough, his battle cry is "Police brutality, coming up!" Yeah, kinda awkward when he's fighting Jax...

Scott's text arrived right in the middle of Raiden's X-ray move, which I let continue before pausing and seeing what Scott wrote.

"_Hellz yeah! Jennifer hale makes shepard come alive!_"

I couldn't disagree with him there, especially considering the fact that I used to have a huge fancrush on Jennifer Hale when I was younger. She was such an integral part of my childhood, how coul I not? But I couldn't let Scott know that.

So, I rolled my eyes and typed back: "_Please, ur just hoping u can romance garrus. That's what FANGIRLS do._"

I sent the message, and the reply came in almost immediately. "_Not true! I'm keeping liara 4 LOTSB._"

Ah. Wise move.

"_Well, she does become a major badass. Guess u can't go wrong there."_

"_Shame u couldn't romance miranda as femshep :)_"

I snorted at that. "_U originally could, but bioware pulled that feature. The files r still hidden in the pc version._"

I could literally feel Scott's outrage through the vibrations as I received his response to the information. "_Canadian bastards!_"

"_Relax, dude. U can probly do it in ME3._"

"_:)_"

I sighed once more, even though I was smiling. Thinking about Mass Effect 3 always cheered me up. It was the one thing that kept me sane, especially with college coming up. Knowing my luck, I'm gonna get some douchebag roommate with a goddamn superiority complex like that guy Pritchard from _Deus Ex: Human Revolution_. Oh, the joys that will bring. Whoops, my mood's beginning to sour. Shit.

"_So, what do u think of the new characters?"_

"_Love jack, grunt, miranda. Hate jacob. Dunno about mordin yet. And everyone loves garrus."_

I let out a yawn. Time to wrap this up.

"_True nuff. Well keep at it. I'm probably gonna fall asleep in a few minutes._"

"_Peace, bro."_

_"Peace_"

I pulled off my glasses, placing them and my phone on the nightstand before turning off the TV while it was still stuck on the MK pause screen. Raiden would have to finish off Stryker in the morning. So, without further ado, I drift off into sleep.

* * *

><p><em>I was standing in the middle of a forest, the yawning mouth of a cave right smack in front of me. Utter blackness seemed to pierce into my soul as I gazed into the lifeless opening.<em>

_Looking down at myself, I saw that I was wearing black boots, jeans, a red shirt and a black jacket. Definitely NOT what I was wearing when I fell asleep. Well, this is a dream, after all, changes are to be expected. At least, I hope its a dream. Otherwise that meant I had changed my clothes and walked a big-ass distance while fast asleep. And I highly doubt that's what happened. _

_But my attention was again drawn to the cave, completely ignoring the vast forest behind me and stepping one foot into the maw of the abyss. _

_"Wish I had a light," I muttered, my voice echoing slightly off the walls._

_Then some crazy shit happened._

_What looked like a glowing ball of light, maybe the size of a baseball, suddenly appeared out of nowhere, floating a few inches above my head and illuminating the entrance of the cave. My jaw, understandably, dropped like an anchor. What the FUCK just happened?_

_"Uh, okay..." I said quietly. And, even though I was standing in a forest, with a floating ball of light hovering nearby and a creepy cave that looked like something you'd see out of a cheesy horror flick sitting in front of me, I just couldn't pass this opportunity up. I grinned mischievously as I spoke again._

_"Wish I had Sonya Blade standing here in a very revealing two-piece!"_

_..._

_Nothing. _

_Shit. Well, it was worth a shot._

_Sighing, I turned and glanced back at the forest before turning back to the ominous darkness of the cave. I figured that I had few options, and took a few more steps into the cave, allowing the glowing ball to follow me. It was being useful now, but the second I heard a little voice say 'Hey, listen!', I was gonna fulfill every gamer's fantasy and kill that fucking fairy. _

_Anyway, I begin walking slowly through the cave, making note of the single direction I seem to be going, my gamer gut screaming how some Resident Evil-type shit was gonna pop up and attack me. Knowing my luck, there was a very real possibility that some freaky mutated dog with a head that split open was gonna show up._

_After a few more minutes of walking, the cave seemed to expand. The small, somewhat claustrophobic space begin to grow into what appeared to be a large, spherical cavern. For a split second, I thought I was standing in the goddamn Batcave. But, y'know, without the bats. _

_And then I saw it, on the other side of the room. An emerald glow that looked oddly familiar. Shit, my photographic memory was apparently handicapped when it came to dreams. Giving an annoyed grunt, I stalked forward, the little floating lightbulb-thing following me every step of the way._

_It's only when I'm a few feet away from the glowing object that I see what it it. And boy, did I remember it now._

_It was a Prothean beacon, just like the one in _Mass Effect_._

_But this one seemed different, somehow. Less mysterious and more... intimidating. Does that even make sense? Then again, this is the dreamworld of an eighteen-year-old video game geek with shitty eyesight and a short temper. Things that made absolutely no sense were to be expected. But my thoughts were interrupted by a strange feeling in my body. A feeling of weightlessness..._

_..._

_Oh shit._

_My body moves instantly, trying to pull me away while the beacon's powerful gravitational force lured me in._

_"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" I began yelling. That fucking fairy-thing just hovered there without a care in the world. Yeah, fuck you too Navi!_

_No matter how much I struggled, however, this thing was as strong as the Hulk, and before I knew it, I was in the air, steeling myself for the inevitable mind-fuck the beacon was undoubtedly about to give me._

_And there it is._

_FUCK!_

_My body began screaming in agony, my entire being feeling like it was on fire. Everything from my feet, to the tips of my fingers, to my fucking HAIR hurt like hell! Shepard was right about this vision being burned into him/her; this felt like the pits of hell were flowing through my veins._

_And then the images sweeped in. I saw all of it. Organics being butchered and annihilated, synthetics wreaking havoc on anything that moved, entire civilizations being wiped out in a short manner of time. I saw flesh being ripped from bone, fires engulfing entire cities, death itself raining down on the Protheans. Wait, was that a Collector...? Then the strange aliens seemed to morph, transforming into humans. Jesus Christ, what the hell was this?_

_Then I saw the galactic core, recognizing it from the final battle in ME2. I seemed to fly into the heart of the black sphere, and I see it. A Reaper, squid-like body writhing about, tentacles whipping around, it's many golden eyes seeming to lock onto me as I approached. And then I heard the voice._

_"**WE ARE REBELLION. WE ARE PENANCE. WE ARE ISCARIOT. OUT OF CHAOS COMES ORDER, OUT OF DESPAIR COMES HOPE. UNITY IS THE KEY. WE GIVE YOU THESE GIFTS IN ANTICIPATION OF OUR BROTHERS' ARRIVAL. USE THEM WELL, MATTHEW.**"_

_I don't know what stunned me more, the fact that a Reaper was talking to me, or that it actually said my name. I didn't have time to ponder what I had just experienced, as my pain seemed to intensify and focus on a single point at the back of my skull, my mouth opening and a scream of unspoken horror bellowing from my lips. My vision went blood-red, and then all was black once more._

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><p>My eyes cracked open, and my head almost instantaneously seemed to split from pain. I let out a groan as my hands flew up to clutch my temples, hoping to alleviate the pain in any way possible. For God's sake, was my room always this bright? Fortunately I was lying on my back in the same position as I was when I fell asleep. Guess all that was a crazy dream after all.<p>

As I contemplate reaching for my Xbox controller and chucking it at the painful light source, a shadow stood over me and helped block that fucking bulb.

"Oh, good, you're awake," I heard a woman speak, her voice thick with an accent I didn't recognize. But, then again, I didn't even recognize the voice, period. That fact alone made my eyes shoot open fully, even though I couldn't recognize shit without my glasses... Wait a second. My eyesight, it wasn't blurry! I could see everything so clearly, and I wasn't wearing glasses! Oh shit, is this a miracle? I don't even believe in miracles. My God, maybe that freaky vision did something to help me!

But, I wasn't even in the apartment anymore. Was I in the hospital? Did I have some sort of seizure that caused me to hallucinate those weird visions and somehow fix my eyes?

I glanced over at the woman who had spoken, taking in whatever details I could about her with my new eyesight. Fiery red hair, somewhat pretty features, wearing a labcoat. She wasn't wearing a nametag, which seemed pretty unprofessional, in my opinion. Then I noticed my surroundings, and froze. The pure white walls, the somewhat futuristic look of the beds and floor...

It all looked so familiar...

...

Oh, God no...

"Where the hell am I?"

Oh, nice one, Matt, you rude prick. You were raised better than that!

But the doctor (at least, the woman I hoped was a doctor) seemed to take it all in stride. "You're in my Med Clinic. I'm Doctor Chloe Michel."

...

Wait a second.

Wait one goddamned second!

Okay, reign in the paranoid imagination, Matt! There's got to be some rational explanation! People have the same name as video game characters all the time, right? Chloe and Michel were pretty common names back on Earth in 2011. That's all it's gotta be. There is no chance in heaven or hell that you have somehow been sucked into a video game!

"And, uh, where exactly is this Med Clinic, doc?" I ask carefully, my heart hammering in my chest as I await her answer. Please say Florida, please say Florida...

She cocked her head to the side, looking at me as if I had grown a monkey out of my shoulder. Answer the fucking question already! I'm from the South, our patience is _very_ limited down here! Or there! Whatever the fucking grammatically correct term is!

"On the Citadel, of course," she responded, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. And for her, it probably is. She actually lives here, in a world that I thought existed in a game...

Please let this be a cruel prank, please let Ashton Kutcher pop out of nowhere laughing so I can yell at him and kick him in the balls.

"Like, the home of the Council? With the annoying ads and C-Sec and the Presidium?" I question her, dedicating every ounce of my willpower to not freaking out. However, I can feel my fingers twitching, a nervous tick for me. Keep cool, man. Control your breathing, just like they taught you in kickboxing. In and out, in and out... Ah, fuck, this shit isn't working!

"The very same," Dr. Michel responded. "Why would you need to ask such a question? You did check yourself into the clinic, correct?"

I shot up instantly, wincing as my spine cracked in three different places. The doctor jumped in surprise at my speed, looking alarmed. Shit, make something up!

"I can't remember, to be honest," I groan, twisting my body and allowing my feet to land on the floor. Looking down, I almost yelped in surprise at what I saw. I was wearing the exact same clothes from the dream, minus the jacket. But the red shirt, jeans, and combat boots were still there. Okay, not an episode of _Punk'd_...

Whatever remains, however inplausible, must be the truth, right?

Well, fuck you and your fucking logic, Spock.

Glancing around the Med Clinic, I saw that it was a little different than what I saw in _Mass Effect_. Multiple beds for patients, a desk that I assume was the doctor's, and a pair of doors at the end of this small hallway-like clinic that I guessed were bathrooms or storage closets. Behind me was the familiar wall with the large hole in it, and the door that indicated the exit. The same place Shepard walks in to find Garrus saving the doctor from Fist's thugs...

I shake my head quickly, snapping myself out of those thoughts. If I really am in the ME universe, and I'm still very speculative about that fact, then Shepard and the gang must be here too...

I turned and indicated the doctor with my newly-rejuvenated eyes.

"And what year is it?" I ask.

Now the doctor seemed to be getting worried. "2183. Have you been experiencing frequent memory loss, Mr. *******?"

Oh shit, she knew my last name! Guess she was telling the truth about me being checked in.

Hm, gotta think up a convincing lie. If this is anything like those self-insert fanfics I would always read, I had to come up with a fake background and history. Fortunately, making up lies on the spot is one of my greatest talents.

"I'm not sure. I think I might have had too much to drink with my friends last night," I begin, allowing a brilliant lie to pop into my head almost instantaneously. Put your acting face on, and...

"Oh, shit, what if they left without me?" I yelled, filling my voice with just the right amount of panic. It's ironic really; I can't act for shit when it comes to plays or film clips, but when it comes to lies and fabrications, I'm Jack fucking Nicholson.

The doctor's eyebrows rose. "Left without you?"

I nod. "Yeah, we were celebrating my friend Jacob getting married, and we went out for drinks, and we were supposed to take a shuttle back to Earth the day after!"

Dr. Michel looked concerned. "Oh, dear. Is there anyone on the Citadel you can contact for help?"

I shake my head and grip the sides of my hair. "No, and I think I lost all my credits playing Quasar last night." Facepalm myself for dramatic effect. "Dumbass!"

Now bring me my goddamn Oscar.

I look over at Dr. Michel again, who's staring at the back of my head with a contemplative look.

"Are you part of the Alliance, Mr. *******?" she asked.

I blink in surprise. Not the question I was expecting. "No, why?"

"You have what appears to be a biotic amp on the back of your skull."

...

My rational thought process just flew out the window.

With a shaking right hand, I reach up and into my short black hair, my fingers probing at the back of my head, hoping against hope that a screw or bolt got stuck in my hair, and that was it...

No such luck.

There it is. A piece of metal attached to the very back of my head, and I knew it was wired directly into my skull. I don't know how or why, but that Prothean beacon and/or Reaper had just turned me into a motherfucking biotic.

In the words of Gabriel Iglesias...

Oh hell no.

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><p><strong>Yeah, so that's the first chapter. As for the biotic amp? Well, I wanted my fic to be a little different from all the other SIs out there. Had to spice things up a bit, do you know what I am saying?<strong>

**Also, as for the main love interest? I'm keeping that a surprise for now. Keep checking back if you wanna find out who it is.**

**Well, anyway, reviews and criticisms appreciated. Big thanks to my friend Krog****anThrashballer83 for helping me out with this fic. You're the best, dude!**


	2. Battery

**Okay, chapter two, coming up. Nothing much to add besides that.**

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><p><em>"Anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; anger concealed often hardens into revenge."<em> - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

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><p><strong>Matt<strong>

Oh hell, oh shit, oh fuck, oh Christ...

Quick, what do I remember about biotics? Let's see, exposed to element zero in the womb, something about nodules growing in the bodies, and amps required to control them, usually put in the back of the head or in the ear. And then biotics eventually learn how to control mass effect fields and do shit, like Throw and Warp and...

Wait, can I do a Charge? That would be pretty badass...

_Focus, you stupid fucktard! You are in a videogame universe with a goddamn piece of technology rammed through the back of your head! Now's not the time to be fantasizing about having superpowers!_

And didn't some biotics get deadly tumors?

...

Fuck me.

All that manages to fly through my head in an instant as I lay my head down in my hands, my body shaking in a mixture of fear and trepidation. Christ, now my initial plan was all fucked up. I mean, if I had this amp, I had the nodules, right? And if I by some chance found my way home, would I still have them? Aw dammit, things just keep going downhill.

And if that wasn't enough, my previous bullshit story to Dr. Michel was no longer viable. How the fuck was I supposed to explain this? '_Oh yeah, doc, I got drunk last night and woke up with a biotic amp and nodules spread throughout my body.' _Yeah, 'cause that kind of bullshit can happen in one night.

It's not like someone stole my fucking kidney!

So, with few other options, I took a deep breath and turned back to the doctor, who was staring at me with a piercing gaze. Okay, that was kinda creepy...

"Got a bathroom around here, doc?" I ask somewhat weakly.

She nodded and pointed toward the end of the small hallway. "The door on the left," she added.

"Thanks," I muttered as I stood up and began walking toward said door, my heart still racing in my chest. My whole body seemed to be going to hell. Mouth was dry, hands were shaking, vision was spinning. I thought for sure I was gonna puke any second.

This was too much shit for one guy to take.

I managed to walk (or, rather, stumble) to the door to the bathroom, which opened for me automatically. I hopped inside and the door shut behind me. Looking over, I saw a panel on the wall with a pair of buttons and a glowing green light. Reaching over, I hit one of the buttons and the light turned red.

"Please God, let that mean it's locked," I muttered to myself as I looked over and quickly examined the enclosed space.

"Huh, pretty clean bathroom," I noted in my confused state. I hurried over to the sink and immediately turned on the cold water, splashing it onto my face in an attempt to pull myself together. Half a dozen handfuls of water later, my face, head, and the top of my shirt were drenched, and I was breathing heavily, trying my damnedest to fathom what the fuck happened to me. Was I insane? Was I lying in a hospital bed in a building full of Section 8's and sociopaths?

I switched the sink off and stared at myself in the mirror, droplets of water still running down my face. My crystal-blue eyes stared back at me, which caused me to remember my newly-acquired excellent vision. Guess that was a plus. Always a silver lining, right?

Then I noticed something else. Back home, I weighed 198 lbs and stood 6 feet even. I wasn't skinny, but I wasn't overweight. I had a bit of a belly and could bench 245 lbs when I did weightlifting classes my junior year of high school. But now that I saw myself in the mirror, I looked slightly different. Nothing overly noticeable, but the slight fat in my face was gone, making me look more muscular by a fraction. Hands trembling once more, I lifted up my shirt to see what else had changed since I arrived in this fucking Med-Clinic.

My slight belly was gone, and I was no longer semi-fat (I'd say I used to be between 'big' and 'healthy' on the six levels of fat). My body now looked like that of a swimmer, not overly ripped, but my abdomen looked very fit and trim, with the slightest hint of a six-pack poking out.

...

Shit, what had I become? Was I even me anymore? I bit back a scream of fear and frustration and dropped my shirt, leaning on the sink for support as another wave of dizziness hit me. I glanced back up at my reflection once more.

I was alone. Completely on my own. No parents, no friends, no life. I have no one to contact. Hell, I don't even have a _life_ in this universe. And what were my loved ones going through? Mom and Dad had been more attentive over me since the divorce, even though they'd split up when I was fourteen and I had adjusted to it. I was their only child. They would be devastated once they discovered I was gone.

Just thinking of their tears and worries was enough to bring tears to my own eyes, which I began wiping away with ferver. My grief turned back to anger soon enough, however.

"Why the fuck am I here?" I snarled into the mirror, as if it was gonna answer me. I knew it wouldn't, but that didn't stop me from going on. "The fuck do you want from me? What am I supposed to do now?"

_BLAM!_

My eyes widened in the mirror as I spun around, my mind registering the familiar sound of a _Mass Effect_ pistol shot having just come from the other side of the door. Oh fuck, did Fist's thugs just show up?

My body reacted almost instinctively, kneeling down into a crouch as I carefully pressed my ear against the door to see if I heard anything else.

"Christ, Tony, we were just gonna threaten her. Was the headshot really necessary?"

...

Oh my God.

They killed Dr. Michel.

They fucking_ killed _her.

At that moment, something inside me snapped. I guess my stress and shock from landing in another universe finally manifested itself as I felt my body begin burning, raw anger surging through my veins. My hands clenched into tight fists, my fingernails getting ready to slice open my palms. My teeth felt like they were gonna shatter from the pressure I was putting on them.

Looking down, I gasped in surprise as I saw my body glowing with the familiar blue aura of biotics. Holy crap, I really did have powers!

So much was happening at once, it was insane. I'd just woken up on a hospital bed in the supposedly-fictional universe of my favorite game series, I had my eyesight and physical body upgraded, biotic nodules had somehow been placed into my body, and the first person I met in this universe, a woman who wished to help people with her clinic, was lying dead while I cowered inside a bathroom.

Taking a deep breath and deciding to let my fury out of its cage, I stood, biotics still glowing, and unlocked the door, which flew open with a _WHOOSH_!

Three assholes in cheap rusty armor were standing over Dr. Michel's body, a small pool of blood spreading out from her head. Two of them were shifting uncomfortably on their feet, looking nervous and somewhat horrified, while the third wore a huge psychotic grin, a pistol still gripped tightly in his right hand.

It wasn't hard to decide whose ass I should kick first.

Then, everything seemed to slow down. The guy with the gun and the crazy grin (Tony?) locked eyes with me, and I charged forward, letting out an inhuman war cry as I cocked my right fist back, feeling the blue energy rush to my hand.

"Shit! Biotic!" Tony yelled as his two companions (whom I shall call Goon and Thug) drew their weapons. Idiots only brought pistols. Guess they figured they wouldn't need heavier ordnance.

Tony fired off a shot, and I felt something whizz by my ear. Too late, jackass. You're already dead.

I threw my fist forward, a biotic surge flying out along with my punch, connecting straight with the bastard's chest and sending him flying back into the wall. My kickboxing training kicked in after that, and I lashed out with a roundhouse kick that knocked Goon's pistol out of his hand before I turned and grabbed Thug's wrist, pulling it past my body as he fired off a shot. Behind me, I heard a sloshy noise and a yowl of pain, and my gut lurched as I realized that Thug had just shot Goon on accident.

Because of me.

But this revelation didn't stop my assault as I kneed Thug in the stomach, causing him to keel over in pain. While he was down, I twisted his wrist until he released his gun and lifted my right leg into the air. Then, as I held his arm in both my hands, I stomped down on the back of his head, driving his face straight down into the metal floor with a sickening crunch as his nose broke. His stiff arm went limp in my hands, and I knew he was out cold. Dropping his limb I glanced over at Goon, who wasn't breathing at all, the round having gone straight through his left eyeball. It was only when my biotics powered down did I hear it.

_Click._

I stiffened and whirled around, mentally kicking myself for letting my guard down as I saw Tony standing there, pistol back in his right hand while his left was being held over his stomach, which I noticed had blood coming out of it. He was hunched over and his face was wincing in pain.

Did I really hit him that hard?

"Rot in hell, you little cocksucker!" Tony coughed as his finger tightened on the trigger, my eyes squeezing shut in fear.

Great, so I was gonna die in the _Mass Effect_ universe without ever meeting any of my favorite characters. None of Wrex's badassery, Liara's cute awkwardness... Hell, I didn't even know if Shepard was male or female in this reality.

Well, guess that's life.

_BLAM_!

Huh, is that what getting shot feels like? It was completely painless. As if nothing... happened...

I cracked one eye open to see where I was. My other eye followed its brothers example as I finally realized that I was looking at Tony's dead body lying on the floor, his pistol still held tight in his hand and a bullet hole going horizontally through his head.

Still in a state of shock, I turned my head to the left, and my jaw dropped right there. Tall, blue armor, pistol held in the left hand like a professional, hawk-like eyes scanning for anymore combatants, mandibles flicking cautiously.

It was him.

Garrus motherfucking Vakarian!

Must...resist...fanboy squeal of delight...

"You okay?" the turian cop asked me as he put away his pistol. Hello, Brandon Keener!

I nodded dumbly as the avian-like alien walked over to check the bodies, while I sat down on a nearby bed and waited for the officer to address me directly, all the while watching him with careful eyes.

Christ, he looked so much like he did in the game, yet so real at the same time. For some reason I payed additional attention to his mandibles flicking back in forth, which seemed to indicate him being deep in thought.

Come on, Garrus, let's move! We have to save Tali and join Shepard!

Finally, after what felt like hours (even though it was probably two minutes max), the turian stood and regarded me with a piercing stare.

"The doctor and two of these thugs are dead. The third has a broken nose, three missing teeth and a concussion. What happened here?"

Huh. He seemed kinda demanding near the end there. At first I felt the need to be sarcastic, but then I remembered how badly Garrus wanted to catch Saren. He'll want all the information he can get. But first, a little courtesy.

"You're C-Sec, right? You got a name?"

His mandibles twitched slightly, probably from annoyance, but he complied.

"Garrus Vakarian. Now, please, tell me what happened here. It could be very important!"

Oh, you have no idea, my friend. No fucking idea at all...

Okay, time for my second bullshit story. Let's hope this one doesn't backfire on me...

"I'm not really sure. I was with my friends at Flux, drinking and partying because one of my friends got engaged. I guess I drank too much, because next thing I knew, I was lying on one of these beds, and Dr. Michel was talking to a quarian that had been shot."

Okay, here comes the tricky part. Take a deep breath, and...

"The quarian was scared, said she wanted to trade information to the Shadow Broker, and directed her toward a guy named Fist. Said he was the owner of Chora's Den."

Garrus's eyes seemed to glint in the light.

"Interesting," he remarked to himself, his voice trailing off for a moment as he looked away from me and in a seemingly random direction. Then he seemed to remember I was there and looked at me again, asking me to continue.

Here, I began inserting the truth, explaining how Dr. Michel had been killed and how I had beaten down the guards with my newfound abilities. The turian looked impressed, a fact I was proud of. If you've impressed Garrus Vakarian, you did pretty fucking good.

"Thank you for your assistance. Now, wait here. C-Sec will arrive soon to take your statement, and take this bastard away," he added, giving Thug a light kick with his foot.

Wait a second, he was gonna leave me here? Fuck that!

"Are you shitting me?" I asked angrily. The turian seemed surprised by my outburst.

"These assholes walked in here, killed the doctor, tried to kill me, and you expect me to just wait here to give a fucking statement?" I was beginning to yell by now.

"Look, I understand you're upset, but-"

"Upset?" I roared. "'Upset' doesn't begin to describe what I'm feeling right now! I'm fucking pissed! Not to mention the fact that C-Sec is full of morons who have their head so far up their asses that they can't see the light of day! Now, I'm going with you, and that's fucking final! We clear?"

By now, my biotics were glowing brightly again, and I saw that Garrus was slightly intimidated by my rage.

"Do you even have any combat experience?" he asked me.

"I've practiced with pistols here and there, and I've been trained in self-defense. I can handle myself."

The turian shook his head. "It's not the same. There are gonna be krogan, human, and turian guards in Chora's Den, and each one of them has killed at least once."

Oh, shit. Got me there. My biotics died down almost instantaneously.

...

Hold on a sec...

"And what, you were gonna storm the place yourself?"

Now it's his turn to look stupid. Yeah, where's your logic now, bitch? He seemed to be thinking up a bullshit response before sighing and dropping his head.

"Hm, guess we both aren't thinking straight," he admitted, sighing and shaking his head.

"To be honest, I'm not even a part of C-Sec anymore. I quit this morning."

Wait, he quit already? Guess I'd better play dumb for now...

"Why'd you quit?"

"I was looking up information on a Council Spectre named Saren, who's been accused of going rogue and attacking Eden Prime. I was looking for evidence against him, but C-Sec kept blocking my efforts. Finally I got tired of it and turned in my badge."

"And you think this quarian has information linked to Saren?" I guessed, though I already knew the answer.

"I didn't know there was a quarian involved, but yeah, I thought there might be something of use to my investigation here."

Okay, Garrus quit and went on a whole 'Dirty Harry' crusade. Not sure if that's exactly how the game went, but then again, Dr. Michel didn't die in the game either, so I guess things change.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Well, I'm an ex-cop and you're a biotic kid with a small amount of combat experience. The two of us wouldn't stand a chance."

"So what do you suggest?"

The turian seemed to smile at that, almost mischievously. "We need to go back to C-Sec for something. Follow me."

With that, Garrus began walking toward the door, motioning me to follow him. A part of me was finding this very hard to believe. Garrus Vakarian, ex-cop, offering little to no resistance when a biotic eighteen-year-old with a handful of combat experience demands to accompany him to a club filled to the brim with armed mercenaries.

Sounds like the start of a really shitty fanfic.

* * *

><p>That turian cockhole! Why didn't I see this coming?<p>

Oh yeah, it started off simple enough. Climb in the rapid transport with him outside of the Med Clinic, he drives, we head into C-Sec, I climb out and wait for him to do the same...

Then the bastard closed the door and drove off.

Garrus, consider your title as my favorite squadmate fucking gone!

...

So, if I can't count on my favorite squadmate, I guess I'll go for the runner-up. After all, every fan of _Mass Effect_ loves a certain krogan with a dry wit and a penchant for shotguns.

Vakarian, you done goofed.

Now, I didn't know my way around this new C-Sec, which had multiple floors and staircases, unlike the game version, but it didn't take me long to spot a large figure in red armor surrounded by five officers on the third floor.

I got close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation, and I managed to hear the ending.

"You want me to arrest you?" one of the cops growled. Pussy, bet he wouldn't be acting so tough if his boys weren't there to back him up.

"I want you to try!" Urdnot Wrex's familiar deep voice snarled.

I stood a few yards away, arms folded over my chest and eyes staring straight at the krogan's back. The large mercenary seemed to get that familiar 'eyes in the back of your head' feeling, because he turned and looked right at me.

Shit, those red eyes are even more scary in real life. Damn, he's a big guy.

Wrex gave a small growl toward the officer that had threatened him before lumbering over to me, his eyes flickering with what looked like annoyance.

"You got a problem, whelp?" he asked me.

Okay Matt, let that one slide. Get straight onto business.

"Urdnot Wrex?" I asked.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"I hear you and I might have similar goals. Looking for a guy named Fist?" The krogan's annoyance changed into a look of slight curiosity, though he still kept his angry face on.

"Hm. Go on."

Holy shit, really? I half expected him to walk away or tell me to fuck off. Okay, this is going well enough...

"Look, you took out a contract on his head, while some of his goons tried to kill me in a Med Clinic not to far from here. You want pay_ment_, I want pay_back_. Interested in a team-up?"

The krogan's eyes narrowed. "You think you're good enough to take on Fist's thugs, whelp?"

I clenched my hands into fists, and once again my body felt the warm experience of my biotics powering up. Christ, all I've been using them for is as an intimidation tactic. I gotta have someone teach me how to use them.

"I took down three of Fist's thugs myself. Two got their brains blown out, the third got a broken nose, fractured skull, and half a dozen missing teeth."

Was I telling complete and utter bullshit lies? Damn right I was. But I needed Wrex's help. Not to mention the fact that helping get the evidence against Saren might get me a spot in Shepard's crew.

Wrex raised an eyebrow. "Really? Not bad for a kid."

The krogan battlemaster rubbed his chin in thought as he examined me up and down. After a long moment, he let out a snort. "Why the hell not? You wanna risk your ass, fine by me. If you live, I get paid. If you die, I get a temporary meat shield, and I still get paid."

Well fan-tucking-fastic for you, you sterile bastard. Ah, who am I kidding, Wrex's gruff demeanor makes him awesome. Plus, he's still a bit of a softie under all that badassery.

The krogan then reached to his side and removed a pistol from his hip. "Take this, kid. Might help you live longer."

...

Oh, shit. Urdnot Wrex was giving me a pistol?

Shit, don't squeal! He'll lose all respect for you!

Simply nodding my head, I take the pistol and attach it to my hip.

Almost forgot something...

"By the way, the name's Matt."

The krogan simply smirked at that.

"Hmph. Alright, Matt, let's go. I'd hate to keep Fist waiting."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, this chapter was kinda iffy for me. The translation from one place to the next was kinda tricky, but I'm happy with it. Sorry it took so long, I've been gaming nonstop since Gears of War 3 came out. <strong>

**Now that Garrus decided to attack Chora's Den on his own, Matt and Wrex are right on his tail. What will happen next chapter? Will Matt finally meet Commander Shepard Are you reading this in an epic voice? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Once again, thanks to my advisor and friend KroganThrashballer83. Read his fic "The Angel and the Cat" and review, the man deserves them.**


	3. Welcome to the Jungle

**Alright, chapter three coming up. Let's rock.**

* * *

><p><em>"Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty."<em> - George S. Patton

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

To say that I was nervous was a fucking understatement. Here I was, in the _Mass Effect_ universe, dressed in nothing but a red T-shirt, jeans, and black boots, equipped with only a pistol, a portable kinetic barrier, and strange dark energy-warping biotics, sitting in a rapid transit car with the epic krogan Urdnot Wrex, and getting ready to assault a nightclub filled with armed guards.

Nervous? I was borderline shitting my pants.

The whole ride there was quiet. Not exactly awkward, but very quiet. The intimidating krogan was driving, something I could never see him doing before. Seriously, it's like trying to picture the Hulk trying to drive a Toyota; just plain weird.

But honestly, that's the last thing my mind is focusing on right now. My thoughts are flying all over the place, ranging from if I'll ever get home, to what my parents are going through, to the video games that I was gonna miss out on (_Gears of War 3_ was about to come out when all this shit happened; Fuck!), and of course, to what I'm gonna be doing if I'm stuck here until ME3.

I've already played through _Mass Effect 2_ (multiple times, I might add), and all of its DLC, so I was set up there. Unless my presence here changes events again, like with Dr. Michel, God rest her soul. But the third game? I only had a handful of details. The Reapers invade Earth, I know that much. Shepard's gonna have to go to pretty much all of the major alien homeworlds, like Sur'Kesh, Thessia, and Palaven. But how does it end? And what's my role in all of this? And what the hell was with that Reaper that spoke to me?

So many questions, so few answers.

Makes me think of_ Assassin's Creed_. Or _Half-Life_.

Speaking of which, I really hope they have some form of entertainment I'm familiar with back home. I mean, Joker makes references to _The Matrix_ and_ 2001: A Space Odyssey_ in ME2, that's gotta be a good sign, right?

Wait...

Why the hell am I thinking about video games and movies when I'm about to assault a club filled with killers? I'm gonna have to shoot people! Christ, the Med-Clinic incident was still shaking me up. But I guess that if I'm stuck here, killing will be a necessary evil... Well, my parents always said I was gifted in the way I moved on from somewhat-scarring events. I just never really saw the point in focusing on the past. If it didn't kill you, then you shouldn't dwell on it. It's a lifestyle that's served me well so far.

Still, I never pictured myself actually taking a life. Sure, I was prone to fits of rage (what gamer isn't?), but I never really caused harm. A few fights in school here and there, nothing serious. But giving a kid a black eye and blowing his brains out were two completely different scenarios.

...

Now I'm dwelling on it, something I just said I_ don't_ like to do. Guess I'll deal with that when the time comes.

And what about Shepard? Male, female? Paragon, Renegade? Shit, I wish I had some kind of internet (extranet?) connection so I could find out.

...

And now I realize that I don't have an omnitool yet.

Shitballs.

"So, kid," came the deep voice of Urdnot Wrex beside me. I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to my krogan companion. His eyes were still focused on driving, though his attention seemed to be mostly on me. Does that even make sense? "If you survive this, what's your plan? Go back to where you came from and live the same life you left behind?"

I raised an eyebrow. If he only knew...

"Not really an option," I muttered to myself, though Wrex still heard me.

"Why? You get thrown off-world or something?"

I knew this question was coming eventually, and probably from many different people. I had thought up something more viable than the drinking and partying story I fed to Dr. Michel, but it was a long shot. I just prayed to the heavens above that this didn't come back to bite me. Okay, deep breath, and...

Bullshit story, go!

"My home and my family are gone," I said quietly. Wrex's blood-red eye glanced over to me, urging me to continue. "Ever heard of Mindoir?" I asked.

The krogan's eye widened in understanding.

"Ah. The slaver attack thirteen years ago," Wrex's voice was gruff, but I detected a slight hint of pity, and, if I wasn't mistaken, understanding?

...

Oh shit, that's right. Wrex left his planet after murdering his own father, and now he had no family or home either.

Great, now I felt guilty about lying to the big guy. Sure hope he never finds out the wrong way (or at all, really), or else I might end up like the cop in _Planet Terror_ that got ripped limb from limb by zombies.

Yeah, I could totally see a pissed-off Wrex doing that to me.

"I thought there were no survivors?" he asked carefully. Luckily, I planned on that question too.

"Technically, there aren't. My mother was exposed to some eezo when she was pregnant with me. When I was born, they hid me to keep me away from the Alliance or any other group that might become interested in my... _abilities_."

Funny how my thoughts drift to Cerberus when I say that...

"The colony understood. We were a tight community, everyone knew each other. And they made sure I had no file that could lead the Alliance to me. I was a ghost, essentially. I didn't know this until later, of course; I was only five when the attack hit. Mom hid me in a safe room under our house so she could go help Dad, who was part of the colony defense team. For what felt like hours I heard screaming and gunshots. No one came back for me," I finished quietly.

"Then how'd you get off-world?" the krogan asked as he passed another rapid transport vehicle.

"Supply ship, of all things. The pilot was a friend of my folks and knew all about me. He smuggled me off-world after calling in the Alliance, and made sure no one else knew about me. He managed to leave me with my uncle back on Earth, and I just sorta started a new life. Still have the nightmares, though."

"How'd you end up here, then? You're a long way from home."

There it is.

"A friend of mine that I lived down the street from was getting married. A group of us chipped in and we all grabbed a shuttle here for his bachelor party. Three days of gambling, drinking, and having fun."

"What happened?"

"I did something stupid," I said sheepishly, my talent for bullshitting making it look genuine. "I was making a killing in quasar, and the guys left me behind. I figured I could buy a ride back with my winnings, y'know? Problem was, I was hitting the alcohol a little hard. I guess I just passed out or something, 'cause I woke up in a Med-Clinic on the Wards, with no money and no omnitool. Everything went further downhill from there."

Wrex was silent for a moment, and I had no idea what to expect him to say. Hopefully he didn't call bullshit on my story, because that would be very bad. As in limb removal bad. Honestly, that story was based solely on luck (a bad move, honestly), because if I got any detail of Mindoir wrong, I was royally screwed. Especially if Shepard was a Sole Survivor. Oh, _that_ would be problematic.

Fortunately, Wrex didn't call me a liar. Instead he said "We're here."

I glanced out the window to see the krogan merc taking us in for a landing. I didn't recognize the area, but I guess that's what Wrex was for; to lead me to Chora's Den, to Fist, to Tali, then to Shepard.

I stepped out of the rapid transit car and stretched, my back cracking in two places. Those seats were _not_ comfortable. At all.

Wrex began walking toward a group of doors, and I followed quickly.

"One last question: Where'd you get your biotic amp?" Wrex asked as he pulled out his shotgun while walking through the doors, which naturally opened automatically.

"Uncle Hank managed to get in contact with someone from the Alliance who owed him a favor. Got me an amp, but I never bothered learning how to use my biotics," I responded, pulling out my pistol to match my krogan ally. Good thing I kinda know how these things work.

He threw me a look that I couldn't really place, though we never stopped walking down the brightly-lit hallway that looked very similar to the ones in ME1. "Why didn't you? You're one of the few humans that didn't grow tumors or die from exposure to element zero. You've been given a gift, yet you neglected it."

I suddenly felt angry at Wrex's gall. While my story was completely made-up, I was still truly upset at the circumstances I had been thrown into. I never asked for these fucking biotics! They were thrust upon me! Or rather, _into_ me.

...

That sounded wrong.

"I was too busy trying to fit in with kids my age! Not to mention getting over the fact that _I had lost my entire fucking life in the blink of an eye_!" I roared, my biotics instantly flaring up, covering my body in an azure glow that I was starting to finally get used to.

Sure, it was a lie, but the context was true. My life was gone, and I was stuck in a time, a universe, where everything is different. A universe I had only ever known in a video game.

The krogan was silent once more, and we kept walking, weapons drawn, expecting an ambush at any second, though the awkward silence between us remained after my biotics had died down. It didn't take long before we heard gunshots down a hallway to the right of us.

"Looks like Office Vakarian jumped the gun," I muttered, still steaming over Wrex's earlier comment.

"What?" the krogan's deep voice asked.

"Long story. We just need to get in there and save his sorry ass," I replied, holding up my pistol and advancing, Wrex right behind me. At the end of the hallway, I stood on the left side of the door, Wrex on the right. Classic positions, eh?

After making sure the portable kinetic barrier attached to my hip was working, I nodded at him, and he replied by letting out a roar and literally charging through the damn door, biotics flaring up and shotgun firing off almost immediately. Damn, I forgot how scary he can be in battle. Or at all, really.

I sucked in a deep breath, held up my pistol, and dived in, catching a quick glance of my surroundings as I leaped into cover behind a knocked-over table. Gunshots were sounding off everywhere, and I mean _everywhere_. This was like the damn 'War Pig' level from_ Call of Duty 4_, minus the tank.

Twisting my head around the table, I saw that Chora's Den looked almost exactly like the game; round, with a bar in the middle and a lot of dancer poles around the area. Half a dozen dead bodies lie strewn about, many different colors of blood spread out along the walls and floors. Wrex was currently engaging another krogan, repeatedly slamming multiple biotic attacks into his enemy, shotgun all but forgotten on the ground nearby. Looks like he managed to take down a few turians before I even made it in, too...

Crazy bastard.

But I also noticed that a group of three turians were firing on an upturned table similar to my own, and I swear I saw familiar black and blue armor hiding behind it. Hello, Garrus.

"Dumbass," I muttered, channeling the good old spirit of Red Foreman as I ran out of cover and pointed my pistol at the turian bouncers. Time seemed to slow down as my finger tightened on the trigger.

Alright Matt, time to nut up or shut up.

_BLAM!_

The shot flew out and hit one of the turians in the shoulder, causing him to scream in pain as he fell onto one knee. His two compatriots immediately shifted their attention to me, opening fire as I dived behind a table and flipped it over. Thank you, Nathan Drake, for teaching me that little trick. Also gotta remember the recoil on this thing; it wasn't extreme, but I'd have to keep it from messing me up.

Then, over the numerous pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns I heard being fired off, the familiar crack of a sniper rifle rang out. Poking my head from behind my improvised cover, I saw one of the two remaining turians lying on the floor, a large hole in his head.

Oh, that's unpleasant.

As the last turian pointed his gun at me, he was suddenly knocked to the ground by the large armored form of Urdnot Wrex, who proceeded to place his shotgun against the unfortunate bastard's head and pull the trigger.

...

Okay, if watching one turian take a bullet in the head was gruesome, watching one get his head blown up like a rodent in a microwave was just fucking unsettling. I mean, God _damn_, that was gross!

But I had no time to comment on this disturbing sight, as half a dozen more bouncers rushed out of the back hallway, which I recognized as Fist's personal room. Alright, so he was sending out the last of his bodyguards. At least, I hope they're the last.

Four humans, a krogan, and a turian. Okay, let's just...

Oh fuck, the krogan's charging at me! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!

I begin firing with my pistol, which turned out to be as effective as a paintball gun in this situation. The large alien reached me in no time, swatting my pistol away with his right hand before proceeding to wrap the fingers of his left hand around my throat and squeezing my windpipe shut, lifting me into the air at the same time.

Shit, I can't breathe! Wrex? Garrus?

My vision's starting to blur, and I can see my turian and krogan allies still handling the five other baddies while I was being choked out by a fucking krogan. Well that's just... perfect...

My hearing's beginning to go, and all I'm starting to see is black. The fingers on my throat hurt like hell, but after a few seconds, I feel nothing at all. Nothing but sheer bliss as I begin to lose consciousness... Goodbye, cruel world!

"**_WE CANNOT ALLOW_** _**THIS.**_"

...

My eyes shoot open instantly.

I feel like I just chugged down twenty cans of Monster Energy, and my vision, hearing, and feeling all snap back full force, my eyes locking onto the krogan's as my body flares up brightly, my biotics exerting more power than they have previously.

Christ, I feel _good_.

"Oh, _now_ you fucked up," I snarled as I reached up and wrapped my right hand around the krogan's wrist, squeezing tightly. Then I thrust out my left hand and sent an incredibly powerful wave of biotic force at the krogan, who screamed in pain as he was lifted into the air and flung across the room.

Minus his left arm, which was still being held tightly in my hand. Without a second thought, I chucked it to the side.

I don't know what came over me. I just know that I feel really damn good, and really fucking pissed. While the krogan was struggling to stand up, I ran forward, leaped over a table all parkour-like, and, upon reaching the krogan, lashed out with a biotically-enhanced kick that slammed him into the wall, which caused a loud crunch to emanate from his back. Guess I broke something.

But I just couldn't stop. I wouldn't.

I walked over to the krogan's left side and grabbed his top jaw in my right hand and his lower jaw in my left, wrapping my fingers inside his mouth to give me leverage. Then, once my newly-empowered muscles had a good enough grip, I began pulling.

The krogan began yelling in fear, begging for his life.

Yet I refused to stop pulling, his jaws passing the ninety-degree angle mark. The corners of his mouth began splitting, his cries reaching high levels I never expected from a krogan. Pathetic, really.

Then, with a roar I never thought I could produce, I made one last massive pull of my arms, and with a disgusting fleshy ripping sound, the krogan's jaw was hyperextended, and his cries stopped, as did his flailing right arm.

I slowly released his jaws as my biotics died down, and I suddenly felt like I was suffering from a massive sugar crash. The world began spinning rapidly, and I quickly sat down in an attempt to prevent myself from puking, which I was most assuredly going to do if I did not rest for a moment.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two familiar shapes approaching. Wrex and Garrus, whom I had expected to be glaring at each other due to the infamous krogan/turian animosity, were instead staring at me with awestruck looks on their faces. I, meanwhile, was slumped against the wall, panting heavily next to a dead krogan with a missing arm and a jaw now locked at one hundred and eighty degrees (approximately).

Yeah, we'd better hurry if we wanna save Tali.

"What are you ladies gawkin' at?" I asked as I slowly stood up, placing my left hand on the wall for support, my legs still wobbling uncontrollably and my stomach sending me signals that it was about to eject its contents.

"Spirits... I'm starting to regret not bringing you with me when I had the chance," Garrus said, mandibles flared in amazement.

"Wait, 'bring him with you'?" Wrex asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

I interrupted before Garrus could answer. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we got a quarian to save and a crimelord to kill."

"Wait, I never said anything about killing him!" Garrus protested.

"I've taken a contract on Fist's head. He's a dead man," Wrex growled. Yep, there's that familiar hatred for turians I had been waiting for. But right now, I was too busy stumbling over to where the turian had swatted away my pistol. Shit, was this what being hammered felt like? I'm gonna be pissed if it is; I didn't even get to enjoy the sheer bliss that intoxication supposedly grants you before you hit the stumbling and puking phase.

After about a minute, I found my gun and picked it up delicately. If that krogan broke it, I was gonna be even more pissed off than I am already.

...

Alright, pistol looks good. However, Wrex and Garrus were still arguing in the background, and I sighed in annoyance before turning around.

"Enough!" I barked. The two aliens ceased their bickering and turned to look at me. I walked toward them, having regained that specific motor function, though my head still hurt like a son of a bitch.

"Garrus, the Shadow Broker himself wants Fist dead. He's gonna be pushing up daisies sooner or later," I remarked as I approached the two, pistol still held squarely in my right hand. "Plus, I told you I wanted payback on Fist for killing Dr. Michel."

The turian shook his head. "But it's just not right! We can't just-"

I cut him off. "You told me yourself that C-Sec wouldn't do shit about this guy!"

"Yes, I did," he replied quietly, acknowledging this fact. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, deep in thought. I, meanwhile, glanced over at Wrex.

"Nice shooting, big guy," I smirked.

The krogan battlemaster grinned. "Nothing more relaxing than blowing the heads off a few turians. Nice warm-up for when we get to Fist."

I quickly glanced over at Garrus to see his reaction, and he just sighed in resignation. "Fine. I guess I don't have a choice in the matter, anyway."

"Come on, there's gotta be at least one time in your life where you wanted to break C-Sec regs and take a bad guy down?" I asked, hoping to get Garrus to remember Dr. Saleon.

His mandibles twitched at that. "Well, there was this salarian doctor-"

"Story time's over!" Wrex barked impatiently. Wow, way to make a complete one-eighty, Wrex. Grinning one second, pissed the next.

"Alright, alright. No need to get all bitchy," I mumbled. The mercenary narrowed his eyes at me, and I suddenly realize that my smartass attitude wasn't gonna do me any favors with this guy. Better shut up while I still have feeling in my legs.

I nervously cleared my throat and lifted up my pistol. "Let's end this," I say confidently. Wrex still looks pissed at me, but he nods in agreement. Good, at least he hasn't broken my bones yet.

"Right behind you," Garrus responds.

...

Holy shit, I was the leader here? I thought one of them would have taken over for me, but it looks like that option's gone. I haven't even killed a guy yet! Sure, I shot that guy in the shoulder...

Fuck it, we don't have time to elect who's in charge. Let's just move on with this. I'll let Shepard take command later on.

I nodded and started walking towards the back room of the club, pistol armed and ready. Garrus and Wrex had out their assault rifle and shotgun, respectively. All in all, we looked like unstoppable badasses.

However, I was still concerned about what had just happened. I recognized the voice that spoke to me while I was being choked out. The Reaper from before had saved me. Gave me a massive boost unlike anything I've ever felt. What did it call itself? Iscariot? Like Judas, from the Bible? Weird...

What did it all mean. What was the point of sending an eighteen-year-old gamer into a video game world and giving him deadly superhuman abilities? And how was that even possible in the first place?

...

This mystery was really starting to piss me off.

I remember there being a small storage area before reaching Fist's domain, and a pair of warehouse workers that would attack if not Charmed or Intimidated. Sure hope I can talk them out of fighting...

The door opens, and the three of us lift our guns in anticipation...

Nothing.

Oh, thank God. I sigh in relief and poke my head further in, signaling Garrus to move forward as if I were in the military. I guess all those FPS's I played had a use in real life. The turian moved forward, glancing down the hallway and nodding the all-clear.

I took the lead, Wrex in the middle and Garrus covering our back. Okay, this is going well so far. Let's keep it that way.

The hallway slithers in an 'S' shape, with a few crates here and there. We pass them carefully, in case they were rigged to blow as a security measure. They didn't put that in the game, but I wasn't taking any chances. This was no video game; this was my reality now. Expect the unexpected.

At the end of the hallway, Garrus and I stand on either side of the door, with Wrex ready to barge right through the door (as he did before), shotgun cocked and ready. My kinetic barriers were ready, and I held up my right hand while holding my pistol in the left.

I held up three fingers.

Dropped the ring finger. Two.

Dropped the middle finger. One.

Dropped the index finger. Charge.

Urdnot Wrex let out a fear-inducing roar as he charged forward, biotics blazing, blasting through the dor as if it were plywood. The gunfire started up almost instantaneously.

I motioned with my hand, and Garrus charged in as well, firing off bursts from his assault rifle. My turn.

Taking a deep breath, as I had last time, I rolled in and dived for the nearest cover, which turned out to be a nearby wall. Yeah, Fist's room was exactly the same as the game. Walls on either side that blocked the doors (basically giving us free cover; Fist really _was_ a dipshit), two turrets were mounted in the back of the room, furniture in the middle, and the man himself cowering behind a flipped-over table.

Garrus was hiding behind the wall opposite me, while Wrex was standing out in the open, covered in a blue aura that I recognized as a biotic Barrier. Could he even use that in the game? I can't remember.

Ah, well, it was helping, wasn't it?

I noticed that Wrex was advancing on the left turret while Garrus was firing on the right from cover. Knowing Wrex as I do, I figure that he would refuse any kind of help, preferring to do things on his own most of the time. So I decide to give my turian squadmate a hand, leaning out of cover to fire a few rounds at the right turret. Hm, this pistol looks pretty cheap, it's already overheating from about ten shots.

Weapon's a weapon, though, so I wasn't gonna complain.

After a little more combined fire (which was fucking _loud_, by the way), both turrets were gone, and Wrex had personally flung Fist against a wall, winding him.

Putting on my best angry face, I advance, Wrex stepping out of the way as Garrus follows behind me.

"I surrender!" he cries, holding his hands in the air. Wow, he's a bigger pussy now than he is in the game. That's pretty sad. But I don't have time for sad, I need a certain quarian, and I need her now.

...

Shit, that sounded wrong. Again.

I aim my pistol directly between his eyes as I snarl "Where's the quarian?"

"She's not here!" he says in a panicking voice. "I don't know where the quarian is, that's the truth!"

And my patience level just went right out the fucking window.

I whirl the gun around in my hand and brutally pistol-whip him in the face. He cries out in pain as his head snaps back, knocking him on his back.

"Lie to me again, and I'll have Wrex here rip your balls off," I threaten. Christ, was I always this violent?

Fist sits back up, dazed but still conscious. Now that I have his attention, he should start talking right about...

"Okay, okay! I don't know where she is, but I know where you can find her!"

...now.

"The quarian isn't here, said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself," he explains, his voice returning to normal levels. He probably figures that we'll let him go free if he tells the truth. Unfortunately for him, Wrex doesn't leave deals half-done. And I don't forget when someone sends their goons to kill me.

"The Shadow Broker never meets anyone personally," I mutter, eyes narrowing. I know this isn't necessary, but I might as well play along for now.

"Even I was hired through an agent," Wrex adds.

Fist slowly begins to stand up, his legs wobbly and a nasty bruise beginning to form on his face where I hit him. I'm beginning to think I have anger issues.

No, wait, I _definitely_ have anger issues.

"No one meets the Shadow Broker, ever," Fist says. I already know this shit, genius, I just said it like five fucking seconds ago. And I know the Shadow Broker's a yahg, too, so you're basically preaching to the choir. "But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up with him. But it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

Okay, time to wrap this up.

I step forward and ram my pistol into his throat, holding it there while I grab a hold of his armor with my left hand. "Give me the fucking location."

Fist gulped in fear. "Here on the Wards," he squeaked. "A back alley by the markets. The meeting's going down in the next five minutes or so. You can make it if you hurry!"

"I know the place, I can take us there," Garrus offered.

I nod and step away from the crimelord, lowering my pistol. Moment of truth time. It's easy to want someone dead, of course. Wishing for it just as simple. Even smashing the butt of a pistol into his face wasn't too bad. But as I stand here, staring down at this weak, pathetic man, I can't help but feel guilty. Yes, I wanted him dead for killing Dr. Michel and sending Tali into a trap. But do I really have it in me to just allow him to die unarmed and defenseless, cowering like an abused dog? It didn't seem right.

But I know that I have to step up. This is my reality now. This is what must be done. I have to become more than what I was if I want to join Shepard's team and survive the upcoming war with the Reapers. _Mass Effect_ is all about choice, and I've made mine.

I feel my heart beat faster in my chest as I speak.

"Wrex."

I hear the cocking of a shotgun, and I look away as the krogan fires, a wet squishy noise erupting from in front of me.

"Rest in peace," I whisper quietly as I glance at Garrus, who appears horrified.

"We can't just shoot unarmed prisoners!" he yelled at Wrex, who shrugged in an uncaring fashion. The turian then whirled on me. "And what the hell were you thinking? You just let him execute this man!"

"Calm down, Garrus. Wrex took out a contract on Fist. I wanted him dead, too. That's why we teamed up for this," I explain, calming myself down. It's over and done with. Nothing I can do about it now. Just gotta move on and deal with our next step. "Besides, we already talked about this. You knew we were gonna kill him."

"There's a difference between killing someone and battle and killing an unarmed combatant!" Garrus snarled. Great, philosophy time. Well, I'd better speak the blunt truth, then.

"Look, using diplomacy, or trying to avoid bloodshed, or choosing the more honorable path are admirable goals," I begin, glad I was able to remember a few choice words for speeches like this. "But sometimes, the galaxy doesn't work like that. Politics can only go so far. Sometimes, you have to make your own justice. By any means necessary."

Did I just quote_ Crackdown 2_? Great.

The turian's mandibles twitched in a thoughtful way (at least, what I thought was thoughtful), but I couldn't wait for him to make up his mind on what I did was right or not.

"That quarian's dead if we don't-" I begin, but I stop as I notice something out of the corner of my eye. Something on the back of Fist's chair. I walked over, my heart beating rapidly in my chest as I stare down at a black jacket.

The same one from my dream that dropped me here.

"What is it?" Wrex asked, his first time speaking since blowing Fist's insides all over the wall. I quickly make up an excuse.

"It's my lucky jacket. How the hell did Fist get a hold of it?" I lie, picking it up. I have no fucking clue what this means, but I remember wearing this exact same dream that involved the Prothean beacon and the Reaper. That alone justifies me taking it with me. It might mean something.

Plus it just looks cool, I gotta admit that.

So, after putting it on and making sure it fit comfortably, I turned to look at Garrus. "Let's move!" I bark, and he nods and sets off at a fast pace, me and Wrex following him. We run through what was left of Chora's Den, jumping over bodies in the process, out the door, and through the many repetitive hallways. Seriously, I know the Reapers designed this thing, but couldn't they make the place a little more varied?

After about two minutes of running and turning (why were all these hallways so empty anyway, didn't the Citadel have a shitload of people on it?), Garrus stopped us at a door that looked almost exactly like the last dozen or so we passed. Sure hope he knows what he's doing.

The turian opens the door and waves us in. I poke my head in and recognize the familiar red lghting of the alley where we first meet Tali. There are some crates stacked nearby for cover, and further down the alley, I saw a small group of figures.

One was a turian, accompanied by three salarians, and a very familiar quarian.

Hello, Miss Zorah.

I motion for Wrex and Garrus to hide behind the nearby crates, also pointing at Garrus's sniper rifle in the process. He picked up my meaning, as he carefully pulled it out and positioned his rifle on one of the crates, one of his hawk-like eyes peering down the scope. Wrex drew his shotgun, same as before, ready for battle.

I crouched down next to Garrus, pistol at the ready. Okay, wait for it...

The two seemed to be carrying on a conversation, until the turian reached forward and seemed to sensually caress the quarian's arm. Oh, bad move, dickhead.

"The deal's off," I heard a female voice growl as she slapped the thug's hand away. Yep, that's Liz Sroka's voice.

I turned to Garrus and whispered "Get ready to take down the boss when I say so."

He nodded, never removing his eye from the scope.

I watched as the turian signalled his men, and Tali chucked a grenade, sending them sprawling for cover.

_BOOM!_

Here's our chance!

"Now!" I bark.

Garrus took the shot, his rifle cracking next to me as Wrex charged out of cover, firing off his shotgun in a frenzy. Doesn't that guy ever get tired?

Not important now, quarian to save. I dived out of cover to see that Garrus had indeed taken down the turian, while Wrex had killed one of the salarians and was dealing with the second one, leaving the third one free.

I lifted my gun, aiming carefully as I did, and pulled the trigger, expecting the recoil this time. The shot rang out, and my aim proved to be true, as it hit directly in the center of the alien's chest, causing him to stagger backward and finally collapse at the same time Wrex finished off his second salarian, leaving me, a turian, a krogan, and a quarian surrounded by four dead bodies.

Sounds like the start of a morbid joke.

"Fist set me up!" Tali said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked over at the corpses. "I knew I couldn't trust that_ bosh'tet_!"

I had to hold back a smile as I slid my pistol into a jacket pocket. These jeans didn't come with a damn holster.

"You okay? Any injuries?" I asked. Tali's health came first, or else a legion of Talimancers would swoop down upon my head and kick my ass.

"I can handle myself," she replied, sounding like she was putting up a tough front. However, she dropped that facade almost immediately, reverting to her sweet, friendly nature as she said "Not that I don't appreciate the help, of course. Who are you?"

"Name's Matthew *****. Friends call me Matt. This is Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vakarian," I said, gesturing toward the appropriate squadmates.

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I must say, I never thought I'd see the day a turian and krogan worked together toward a mutual goal," she remarked. I smirked at that as Wrex and Garrus tossed a sideways glare at each other.

"Yeah, you must feel special, huh?" I joke, causing her to giggle slightly. I forgot how cute she was when she wasn't firing off a shotgun or cursing out a douchebag admiral (Qwib Qwib bastard!).

"Maybe just a little," she teased. But I had to get to the matter at hand. Chit-chat can come when we were safely aboard the _Normandy_.

"We're here looking for evidence against Saren, to prove he's a traitor," I told her.

She perked up slightly at that. "Then I have a chance to repay the three of you for your help."

Yes! Mission accomplished! "But we need to go somewhere safe," she insisted.

"Yeah, we need to head for the human embassy. This oughta make their day," I suggest.

Garrus nodded in agreement.

"So, we're heading for the Presidium. Not sure they'll appreciate having a krogan up there," Wrex remarked.

I grinned at that. "I'd like to see them try and stop you. Come on, let's move out."

* * *

><p><strong>Shepard<strong>

I hate politicians, plain and simple.

Actually, I'm pretty sure every soldier does. They don't make our lives any easier, instead telling us what we should or shouldn't do while acting like they knew what it was like to be in a warzone. The only politician I knew for sure had seen combat was the Turian Councilor, and I hated that son of a bitch with every fiber of my being. Hell, I almost hated the whole damn Council, if it weren't for the fact that I could see where they were coming from. But the Turian (I think his name was Velarn?) acting like a total dick wasn't improving my opinion of him at all.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead as I went over every last detail of the recent events.

I had been picked to be the Executive Officer of the SSV_ Normandy_, a prototype ship made from a combination of turian and human design. She was a fine ship, and I was proud to be chosen for her prestigious crew, which included the legendary Captain Anderson and infamous smartass pilot Jeff "Joker" Moreau.

However, our shakedown run to Eden Prime, for which we had a Council Spectre named Nihlus on board, turned out to be a covert op to pick up an uncovered Prothean beacon that could prove valuable. Nihlus had also revealed that I was being considered for candidacy into the Spectres.

It started off so well. Then Murphy's Law kicked in.

There was an attack on Eden Prime, and I had been sent in along with Corporal Richard Jenkins and Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko to secure the beacon. Jenkins had been killed almost immediately upon landing.

Alenko and I managed to assist a surviving marine by the name of Ashley Williams, who explained that it had turned out to be geth attacking the small colony world, and doing a damn good job of it too.

Along the way, the three of us encountered horrifying mutated corpses, an insane doctor, and a group of smugglers. But we later found Nihlus, who had been sent ahead of us, dead from a gunshot to the head. A man named Powell had witnessed the whole thing, claiming another turian by the name of Saren had shot and killed Nihlus while his back was turned.

We managed later on to secure the beacon, though that didn't last long. Alenko, in an act of slight stupidity, stood too close to the beacon and was being dragged toward it by an unknown force before I grabbed him and threw him out of the way. The beacon, however, did something to me.

It burned a vision into my brain. I saw synthetics slaughtering organics, followed by a darkened sun and what appeared to be some kind of giant mechanical squid. It was all very strange, but it didn't change anything. The beacon exploded after that, knocking me out and making me take the blame for it.

The Council was not happy, and even less so when we accused their best agent of being a traitor. Naturally, they sided against us, and our Ambassador, Donnel Udina, started whining like the little politician that he was about how we were going about this the wrong way.

So, we took an idea from him and went to find a guy named Harkin in C-Sec, looking for a turian named Garrus Vakarian that claimed to be against Saren as well. Harkin tried to hit on me, but he gave me the information I wanted after I threatened to remove his manhood. Said Vakarian was supposed to be checking out a Med-Clinic for some reason.

When we got there, C-Sec had swarmed the place, carrying out three dead bodies and one badly injured man. The C-Sec officers told me what they knew. Basically, these goons worked for Fist, the owner of Chora's Den.

However, before me and my squad could head to the club and have a chat with said owner, we were told someone beat us to the punch, as C-Sec had already arrived there, finding numerous dead bodies, including Fist's.

I was beginning to think Saren was covering up all his tracks and that we might never find him. Now I was back in the Human Embassy, along with Captain Anderson, Udina, Williams, and Alenko.

Williams was a headstrong woman, much like myself, and she was very talented in battle. It was a good move on Anderson's part to have her transferred to the _Normandy_ crew. We'll need soldiers like her when we go after Saren.

Alenko was just as skilled, easily the best marksman with a pistol I had ever seen, and his biotic and tech skills were very formidable. However, I can't help but notice the lieutenant making passing glances at me. While I was appreciative of him finding me attractive, I didn't feel the same way. He was good looking, but just not my type.

Now, where were we?

Oh. Right.

Udina was currently ranting about how we screwed up, and that Saren would be allowed to get away with his attack while I was most likely barred from becoming a Spectre.

"Now we have no evidence, no human Spectre, and no idea what Saren plans on doing next!" the politician cried, his face becoming a deep red.

"It's not her fault!" Anderson barked. "Something isn't right here! There's got to be another party involved in this. One against Saren, just like us!"

I looked over at the Captain. "How do you figure that, sir?" Williams asked.

"Saren wouldn't have been so sloppy. He's one of the top Spectres out there, yet why would he leave the dead bodies behind where the authorities could find them? Furthermore, why would he attack Fist? The man worked for the Shadow Broker, and declaring war on that particular individual is not a wise course of action," the captain explained.

Hm. Fair point.

"Alright, captain," Udina growled. "If there is more to this, and someone else has the data against Saren, what do you think will become of it?"

"Well, if they were greedy, they could sell it off for money, either to Saren or the Shadow Broker," Anderson suggested.

Udina looked like he was about to let loose another sardonic comment when the intercom on Udina's desk went off, and the voice of the young asari from the rest desk sprang forth, sounding slightly panicked. "Sir?" she squeaked.

"Yes, what is it?" Udina snapped impatiently.

"Um," she began nervously. "There's a group of people here to see you, ambassador. They claim they can help in your investigation."

My eyes shot open, and I straightened, as did Alenko and Williams.

"Really?" Udina asked, sounding somewhat intrigued. "Send them in."

The connection was cut, and about thirty seconds later, the strangest group of individuals I had ever seen walked through the front door, like a motley crew of different races. The first through the door was a young human male who looked no older than twenty, wearing rather old-style clothing with a cocky grin on his face. Behind him came a quarian, whose snug suit revealed her as female. Then came the turian that we had been looking for, one Garrus Vakarian. Finally, to my surprise, a krogan walked in, wearing maroon-colored armor and bearing a menacing look.

There was a moment of awkward silence, during which the young human locked eyes with me, tilting his head in curiosity. I didn't like that look in his eyes. It was the look of someone who knew more than they let on.

"You guys looking for evidence against Saren?" he asked, breaking the tense silence. His eyes were still locked on mine, expecting me to answer. The crystal-blue color of his eyes was quite beautiful, though I would never admit that to anyone. At all. Ever.

"Yes, we are," I responded. His grin seemed to widen even further.

"Well, my name is Matthew Crowe, and I'm here to help you with your Spectre problem."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. I didn't think the chapter would be this long, to be honest. Guess it just got away from me. But this one was fun to write, and I'm hoping to make future chapters a similar length.<strong>

**So yeah, I decided to reveal my character's last name. I was getting annoyed with the continued use of asterisks, and this is only the third chapter after all.**

**Anyway, next chapter involves Shepard's Spectre status and Matt's first time on the Normandy. It's gonna be wild! Not to mention the thickening of the plot and a few twists here and there! **

**Again, thanks to my reviewers and KroganThrashballer83 for giving me support and pointing out what I can do to make this fic better. You guys are amazing!**


	4. Hero of the Day

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Also, some of you may be wondering why Matt's last name was asterisked when he introduced himself to Tali, but it wasn't when he introduced himself to Shepard. The answer is the perspective. From Matt's POV, it was hidden. From Shepard's POV, it was revealed. Just something I decided to go with.**

* * *

><p><em>"Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become."<em> - Brooke Foss Westcott

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

I honestly hadn't expected getting to the Presidium would be this easy. I mean, our team was made up of a human, a turian, a krogan, and a quarian. Wouldn't C-Sec find that just a tiny bit suspicious, especially the scary-looking krogan with the multitude of deadly weapons?

Shit, Garrus was right about Citadel Security sucking ass. I mean, I've seen mall cops more active than these guys. Hell, the only time I saw an officer doing something was on the way to the Embassies, when we actually passed by that hanar and turian officer from the game, arguing about the former's right to preach about the 'Enkindlers' and their teachings. I gotta say, it was quite entertaining to watch the pissed-off turian bark at the calm and collected hanar. While standing there and enjoying the show was a tempting thought, I had some evidence to deliver.

Though I do wonder if they'll still be arguing if we come back later. That would be hilarious.

Anyway, we eventually passed a bunch of areas from the game, like Barla Von's office (which looked the exact fucking same from the outside as it did in ME), before we reached the Embassies.

And then irony kicks in. See, security didn't stop us once for walking around the Presidium armed with deadly weapons, and none of them protested the fact that a quarian or a krogan was wandering around the area that was considered the headquarters of galactic politics and commerce. But as soon as we reach the front desk with the asari sitting behind it (also like the game), we're stopped for not having an appointment or clearance to go into the Embassies.

Go figure, right?

And now, here we are, attempting to reason with this airhead asari, and it's only the knowledge that she probably has centuries on me that prevents me from hitting her with a biotic blow. If I can even do that again, which I'm not sure I can.

"Look, miss," I sigh, rubbing my temples, "can't you just call the human ambassador on the intercom or something and tell him we have evidence against Saren?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm not allowed to do that without proper identification," she replied, and I can tell she's losing her patience, trying to talk to us while doing all that crazy typing on her computer. Or holo. Or whatever the fuck you call that thing. Well, that's good, 'cause my patience is about to blow like fucking Mount Vesuvius. Bitch.

"But we have a C-Sec officer with us. Isn't that proper ID?" I ask hopefully, pointing my thuimb at Garrus over my shoulder.

She frowned. "I've already been informed of Officer Vakarian's current unemployment. Executor Pallin figured he would come here, and told me to block off all access."

Oh yeah, Pallin. Cocksucking prick.

I could hear Garrus growl behind me, but the asari seemed not to notice.

"Ma'am, the fate of hundreds of thousands of lives could depend on us getting this knowledge to the ambassador," I plead. Great, now I'm begging. "Can't I just run this to him and back? I can leave my companions here."

She shook her head resolutely. "No, sir." Her eyes narrowed harshly at me. "Please leave before I call C-Sec and have you locked up."

...

In the words of Abraham Lincoln: You have fucked up now!

"Well then," I say, lowering my head. "Guess I have no choice." The asari gave a smug smirk of victory. Big mistake.

"Wrex!" I bark.

The krogan responded immediately, pulling his shotgun from his back and holding the barrel a foot away from the asari's head.

"Now let's try this again," I say in a dangerously quiet tone. "Call up the human ambassador and tell him that we're here to help his investigation, please. Or my krogan friend here can turn your head into a milkshake. Your choice."

Shaking with fear, the asari hits the intercom on her desk and speaks. "Sir?" she manages to squeak.

Then I hear the familiar voice of Ambassador Udina, the spineless asshole. "Yes, what is it?" he snapped. Oh, he's already acting like a giant dick? Shocking!

"Um," she began, glancing back over at me fearfully. While I feel slightly guilty at threatening an innocent like this, she was really pissing me off. And we didn't have time to waste bullshitting with the blond equivalent of an asari. I twitch my head in Wrex's direction, who grins ferally and slightly lifts up the shotgun before lowering it again.

Translation: Keep talking, or boom goes the dynamite. And by 'dynamite', I mean your fucking head.

"There's a group of people here to see you, ambassador," she continues. "They claim they can help in your investigation."

A pause. Okay, so he's considering it at least. That's progress.

"Really?" he said, his voice telling me that he was interested in what we had to say. "Send them in." Then the connection was cut.

"See, was that so hard?" I ask cheerfully. "Now, we would appreciate it if you don't involve C-Sec in this. Especially the big guy," I said, pointing over at Wrex, who had holstered his shotgun. "He would be _very_ unhappy if a bunch of officers showed up to arrest him, okay?"

She nodded instantly. I smirked before turning and walking toward the right hallway, the team following me.

"Was that really necessary?" Tali asked.

"Unfortunately yes. There's never a shortage of idiots in the galaxy, and that one was stopping us from getting this evidence to the right hands. We had to take drastic measures," I responded.

"Did we really need to threaten her after we got what we wanted, though?" she inquired.

"Please. You think C-Sec will treat us fairly if we get arrested. Look at us! A krogan merc, a quarian traveller, a former C-Sec turian,and a biotic human. We'd be harrassed in our cells constantly." I shot back. She lowered her head in resignation.

"I can't argue with that. The galaxy doesn't seem to like us very much," she said quietly.

"The four of us, or quarians?" I ask.

"I guess both," she replied, a tiny bit of humor entering her voice. After that, she was silent once more.

Even if Tali was feeling down in the dumps, I couldn't help but grin at the events happening around me. I had managed to recruit three of Shepard's squad mates and retrieve the evidence against Saren. And now I was going to deliver it, meet Commander Shepard (and finally figure out if it's a male or female in this universe!), and hopefully join his/her team.

Yep, things were looking up. Except for the fact that I was still stuck in the universe of a video game. That was still troubling.

Ah well, take what you can get.

Okay, there's turian embassy. Asari. Salarian. Hanar.

There it is. The human embassy.

Oh man, I can't keep the shit-eating grin off my face!

The door opened as I approached, and five pairs of eyes gazed upon me as I stepped into the room, my stupid smile not faltering a bit. I glance around the room and take in the sights. Looks pretty much the same as in the game. Udina's desk in the middle with a few tables and chairs spread around it. Okay, there's Udina, the asskissing slimeball. There's Anderson, standing there in a badass fashion on the right side of the room, hands held behind his back like the boss that he is.

Seated at one of the tables was Kaidan Alenko, looking as passive as he always did in the game. Bastard was calm, I'll give him that much. Still wasn't one of my favorite Mass Effect characters, though.

Then there was Ashley Williams, brown hair tied in the classic bun and normal slightly-cross look on her face as she leaned against the wall a few feet away from Alenko. Also not one of my favorite characters, though the ME3 picture of her I saw online was pretty hot.

...

Moving on.

And leaning against the railing at the back of the room was the one person I had been waiting to meet above all others. Well would you look at that, it's a FemShep. Thank God for that. I don't have anything against Mark Meer's (infamous) voice acting, but Jennifer Hale is just amazing.

Okay, let's see what I'm working with. Dark red hair to her shoulders, alright. Striking emerald-green eyes. Full red lips. A spray of freckles across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. Not really lacking in the looks department, I gotta admit...

Oh, shit, am I staring at her? Not good not good not good!

"You guys looking for evidence against Saren?" I asked, hoping to cover my hormone-induced staring. My eyes were still locked on hers, however. Whatever you do Matt, don't glance down. It's a death wish!

"Yes, we are," Shepard responded. Ah, Ms. Hale, your voice is still magnificent, no matter what reality I'm stuck in. I could feel my stupid grin widening.

Guess I'd better make a good first impression.

"Well, my name is Matthew Crowe, and I'm here to help you with your Spectre problem."

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I could've sworn I heard Jack's voice saying "_Shit, you sound like a pussy_."

An awkward silence began to fill the air. Ah shit, did I fuck this up already?

"You're the ones that shot up Chora's Den, aren't you?" Anderson suddenly spoke up, shattering the uncomfortable quiet. And there's Keith David's epic voice, bringing back some old memories involving the Arbiter and the repetitive yelling of the name 'Ramirez'.

"Oh yeah, that was us," Wrex responded before I could, grinning as he did so.

Okay, while I would love to stay and chat with Keith David and Jennifer Hale, two of my all-time favorite voice actors, we have business to attend to. Business involving audio files and the first human Spectre. Time to move on with this!

"So, let's get the formalities out of the way," I say, clapping my hands together for emphasis. "This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and Urdnot Wrex. I believe you already know Officer Vakarian." I made sure to point out each and every one of my squadmates as I said their names.

The three members of Shepard's squad nodded at that. The Commander ceased her casual leaning on the railing to stand up straight and walk a few steps toward us. "I'm Commander Katelyn Shepard. This is Captain David Anderson, Ambassador Donnel Udina, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."

Katelyn, eh? Not a bad name. Wonder if she goes by Kate for short.

"Very well. Now that we're acquainted with each other, maybe you'd like to give us the full explanation of why you are here," Udina interjected somewhat snippily. Wow, great manners, asshat.

Alright, let's do this.

"Long story. Shortened version: We found some evidence against Saren, and we're here to deliver it. Simple as that," I explained, standing a little straighter to let them know I was all business right now.

"Really?" Udina asked, raising his hand to his mouth in that thinking gesture he uses in both games. "And how did you come across this evidence?" Was that suspicion in his voice?

I glanced over at Tali, who nodded and stepped forward.

Before she even had a chance to speak, Udina spoke up again. Christ, just listening to him talk makes me wanna shoot him!

"We don't see many quarians on the Citadel. Why did you leave the flotilla?" he asked. I've heard this conversation way too many times before, but I guess I shouldn't screw with the timeline. Tali gets ready to speak before being interrupted.

"She's on her pilgrimage," Garrus said. All eyes went to the turian, who shrugged and continued. "It's a quarian tradition where they leave the Migrant Fleet to find something that can be found useful back on their ships. It's basically a rite of adulthood."

"Yes, that's right," Tali murmured, still staring at Garrus from behind the helmet.

"How'd you know that, Garrus?" I ask, curious as to why the former C-Sec officer knew about the Pilgimage here but not in the game.

"Rookie officers are always running quarians in for vagrancy," the turian says in disgust. "They would tell us about the Pilgrimage in order to explain their lack of living space, but it never mattered to Pallin. Something else those idiots at C-Sec constantly screw up."

Huh. That's actually interesting to note. Just like the whole 'driving while black' issue back home.

Shepard tilted her head and spoke, ending the strange silence that had been caused by Garrus's explanation. "What kind of evidence did you find? And how did you even get it?"

"Well, I began hearing reports of geth beyond the Veil during my travels, which hasn't happened once in the three hundred years since they drove my people into exile." She shrugged. "I was curious. I tracked a geth patrol to an uncharted world and waited for one to separate from the group. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

Anderson raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. A defense mechanism."

"If that's true, then how did you manage to preserve the memory core?" Shepard asked, seeming intrigued.

"Well, my people did create the geth. Sometimes if you're quick, careful, and lucky, small caches of data can be recovered intact," the quarian girl explained. "While most of the core was deleted, I managed to salvage something from its audio banks."

And with that, Tali activated her omnitool and quickly hit a few buttons before the familiar voice of Fred Tatasciore emanated from the holographic device. "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaimed. "This proves he was behind the attack!"

"Okay, so what the hell is this Conduit thing he's talking about?" I ask, hoping to move this conversation along. I've already heard it dozens of fucking times, might as well spice it up a little.

"Well, it must have something to do with that Prothean beacon from Eden Prime. Maybe it's some kind of weapon?" Alenko asked.

Shepard and Anderson shared worried looks, though they were quick to hide them. Part of me wishes I could just come out and tell them what the fucking Conduit is, but I couldn't. Balance of timelines and all that. I read enough self-insert fics to get that part right. Of course, nine times out of ten the protagonist's secret is blown by someone else and the whole situations goes to hell pretty fast.

Knowing my luck, that was most definitely what was going to happen.

Tali's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't operating alone."

Our attention went back to the young quarian, who activated her omnitool once again. There's Saren, Eden Prime, Conduit, blah blah blah.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," a chilling female voice said. And there's Benezia, indoctrinated asari Matriarch and mother of Liara T'Soni.

"I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about Reapers," Udina stated.

"What the hell are Reapers?" Ashley asked, looking at all of us in confusion. No one answered for a few seconds. Aw fuck, Tali doesn't know either! So not canon! Guess I'm up again.

"I've heard of them before," I said nonchalantly. All eyes are on me for, what? The third time? Fourth? Take a drink every time everybody in the fucking room looks at me!

"Back on Earth there was this crazy-ass guy that lived near my uncle. Said these things called Reapers were 'hyper-advanced mechanical gods' or some shit like that. He claimed that they completely annihilated the Protheans fifty-thousand years ago and then vanished. And that they would be back soon to do the same to us," I explained, cooking up yet another bullshit tale.

"Sounds a little far-fatched," Udina muttered to himself, though we all heard it.

Shepard's eyes seemed to widen a fraction. "The vision on Eden Prime! I get it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers!"

I glance over at Wrex and Garrus, who shrug in confusion. When I look at Tali, she does the same. Okay, since I have to keep my origins a secret, and it appears I've been made temporary leader of this damn team, I have to be the one to speak up.

"Uh, what vision?" I ask, feigning ignorance.

Udina and Anderson straighten up at that.

Oh, right. The whole mission was top-secret. Great.

As I prepare my newest snarky comment, Shepard lets out an annoyed sigh.

"For the love of God, it's not gonna be a secret for long!" she growls irritably at her superiors before turning to me. "A dig team on Eden Prime uncovered a Prothean beacon, which is why it was attacked in the first place. When we found it, I had some strange vision burned into my brain before the damn beacon exploded in my face."

"Well, your face looks like it came out no worse for wear," I note before blinking in horror. Did I really just say that? Did I just fucking hit on Commander Shepard? Please God, don't let her be Renegade! I like my face intact!

Fortunately, she seems to take it all in stride as she snorts in good humor. "Thanks, but it wasn't literally in front of me. Just a couple of meters away."

Our banter was cut short by Udina, which I suspect will become a usual thing. You know what I wish for right now? I wish for Shepard to go into a Trishka Novak-like rage and start threatening to kill Udina's dick. That would make my fucking day.

"While I'm sure this conversation is very interesting, we should probably be more concerned about what the Council will say to this," he said in his holier-than-thou tone of voice. Oh, wait, that's his normal voice. Never mind.

"The Council deserves to know, ambassador. The Reapers are a threat to every sentient being in the galaxy," Shepard protested.

"If what the boy says is true you mean," came Udina's pompous response. Oh, you wiseass motherfucker!

"The boy has a name, jackass," I snarl, crossing my arms over my chest and allowing my biotics to flare up for a split-second before powering down. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the corner of Shepard's mouth twitch upward. Good, she has a sense of humor in this universe. If she had a pole up her ass like Garrus, or my father for that matter, I would be very disappointed.

Udina narrowed his eyes at me, and I returned the gesture immediately. After a few tense seconds that felt like countless hours, what with everyone in the room having gone silent and watching the two of us carefully, the giant pussy looks away. Yeah, don't fuck with a pissed-off biotic teenager, meatbag. Wait, does an eighteen-year-old still count as a teenager?

The sound of Anderson clearing his throat broke me out of my seething hatred of the politician, if only for a moment. "Whether or not they believe the rest of this, that audio file proves Saren is a traitor!" the Captain said excitedly.

You know what? This is just like the game dialogue. Seriously, little to no dialogue changes at all. Almost disappointing really. Am I just a copy and paste here or something, not here to change much, just provide extra humor? Dammit, I want new dialogue!

Fuck it, I'm speaking up as much as possible from now on.

"Man's got a point," I say. "You might wanna present this to your buddies on the Council. Show them just how far they've had their heads up their asses." I say that last part with a grin, I gotta admit.

I received a few chuckles for that comment.

"So, what do we do with these four?" Ashley asked in a rather blunt manner.

Okay, I worked on this the whole drive here. Come on Matt, present your case and blow them away!

...

Screw the motivational shit, I'm just gonna do this.

"Well, I can't speak for my friends here," I start, gesturing towards Tali, Wrex, and Garrus. "But I want to join you on this mission against Saren."

Everyone in the room seemed stunned by my request. Yep, more awkward silence. Christ, I'm good at that, aren't I?

"_You_ want to join _us_?" Kaidan asked, sounding slightly amused. "You have any military experience, kid?"

"Before today? Nope," I admit cheerfully. "All I've had is basic hand-to-hand training and a few lessons in firing a pistol. And my biotics, of course."

While Kaidan and Ashley shared confused glances, Shepard's green eyes pierced me with an analyzing gaze, carefully studying me. Guess I need to up the ante here.

"Look, I'll admit I'm not the most dangerous person in this room, and I know jack shit about ship technology or maintenance. But my uncle always told me to put others before myself, and if Saren's looking to start a war, that means he's gonna kill thousands, maybe more. Plus, if this Reaper thing is real, it's gonna be even worse. If I can help in any way to prevent either of those from happening, then sign me up."

Okay, Shepard looks like she's considering it. Oh, dammit, what else can I add?

"If I may, Commander," comes a familiar flanged voice. All eyes turn to look at Garrus Vakarian, the turian standing there looking confident and intimidating. "The boy could be a very powerful addition to your team. I witnessed him rip a krogan's arm off with his bare hands in Chora's Den."

Oh, Garrus, I could kiss you right now!

And all eyes go to me again. Take another drink!

"That was before he ripped the poor bastard's jaw open," Wrex added, throwing me a look of what I really hope is approval. If Urdnot Wrex thinks I'm a true warrior, I have hit the pinnacle of badassery.

"That was you?" Kaidan asked, stunned. I simply nod in response.

Hell, even Udina looks impressed now! Yes, my alien friends came through for me again! Fuck all you xenophobes!

Shepard clears her throat before speaking again.

"Well, we _are _a little understaffed in regards to the ground team," she admitted. "We're gonna need more than three soldiers if we want to beat Saren..." She tilted her head in thought, her emerald eyes never leaving me. Oh crap, this suspense is a nightmare!

"Alright," she finally relents. "We'll take all the help we can get. All I ask is that you have the ship's medical officer give you a quick physical. If she clears you, I'll see to it you get both combat and biotic training while you're with us."

...

Holy shit on a shit sandwich.

With shit on top.

And a side helping of _Jesus H. Christ_! I'm on the _Normandy_ crew! Mission accomplished, bitches!

"Thank you, Commander," I say, trying with all of my might to try not to jump for joy. "I won't let you down."

It's a cliche, sure, but it sums up exactly how I feel. I've just been given the chance to save the galaxy from complete and total annihilation. Fuck no I'm not gonna waste this opportunity.

"Count me in, Shepard," Garrus blurted out.

"I would like to go as well," Tali chimed in.

Shepard blinked in surprise. Well, since I had to give my reasons for wanting to join the team, I'm guessing they will too. And the red-headed green-eyed commander doesn't disappoint.

"Why would a turian want to take down Saren?" she inquired.

Garrus snorted. "It's _because_ he's a turian that I want him stopped. He's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"

Ah, hell with it. He helped me out, I'd better return the favor. "Every turian does receive military training at sixteen. And he is a damn good shot with that sniper rifle."

Shepard considered it for a few more seconds before nodding and turning to Tali. "What about you, Miss Zorah? Don't you have to complete your pilgrimage?"

The quarian girl straightened at that. "The pilgrimage proves that we are able to put the needs of others before ourselves. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?"

Me again: "She's also the closest thing we have to a geth expert. Can you really turn away that kind of help?"

Shepard threw me a glance, then looked over at Garrus and Tali once more. "Alright, welcome aboard, Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah."

"Ah hell, I'm in," came a deep, rumbling voice. I look over at Wrex in surprise.

"You too, Wrex?" I ask, fighting back a smile.

The fearsome krogan shrugged. "I got nowhere else to be. Besides, chasing a rogue turian Spectre around the galaxy, blowing up geth along the way? I can't pass up that kind of action."

"Bullshit. You're just coming along 'cause you'd miss me," I smirk.

"Someone's gotta watch your sorry ass. Can't trust the turian to do it, he can't even save his own," the battlemaster retorted, his comment causing Garrus to roll his eyes and shake his head.

"That'll do, Wrex," Shepard said calmly, though there was no disguising the the power and authority in her voice from the little 'request'. This was a woman you did not wanna fuck with.

The krogan let out a snort, but said nothing. He knew who was in charge here.

"I believe it's time we deliver this evidence to the Council. Shepard, you and your fellow soldiers had better make your way to the Citadel Tower. The others can head for the ship," Udina commanded. Oh, I get it. We deliver the evidence, then get sent away like the ugly stepson that nobody wants to look at. Fuck you, Udina.

Then, to my surprise, Shepard frowned at the dickweed ambassador. "That doesn't sound like a very grateful request," she said in a very low and scary voice. "These people risked their lives to get us this evidence, now you're telling them they can't accompany me to deliver it?"

Udina gulped in fear at Shepard's deadly glare.

I'm not kidding, the bastard literally closed his eyes and _gulped_.

It didn't take him long to regain his composure, unfortunately. Watching him piss himself would have been entertaining. "Very well, I will make sure they have the proper clearance. But you can't take _all_ of them with you. Some of them _must_ wait at the ship."

With that, Ambassador shit-weasel (yes, that is a _Dreamcatcher_ reference) began walking toward the door, Anderson going with him. The commander's eyes followed him every step until the door closed behind him.

Shepard's glare didn't let up for a few more seconds. "Alright, guess that's the best I'm gonna get," she sighed. Turning, she locked eyes with each of us. "Guess I'm gonna have to ask for a couple of volunteers to head back to the ship."

Ashley raised her hand almost immediately. "I'm not a big fan of politicians, commander. You understand, right?"

Shepard rubbed her temples. "I do, chief. _Believe_ me, I do."

"And I doubt the Council will be eager to see a krogan in their precious Tower. I'll go back to the ship with the female," Wrex added. Ashley didn't look too thrilled about being referred to as 'the female', but wisely kept her peace. Don't wanna piss off a krogan if you can help it.

"I'll go too, commander. I think a migraine's starting to kick in," Kaidan said in a hoarse voice. Yeah, he was looking a little pale around the gills. How did I not notice that?

The commander nodded. "Anyone else wanna head back?"

I look over at Garrus and Tali, who shake their heads.

I shrug in response. "I'll go. Hell, with every other crazy shit that happened to me today, visiting the Citadel Tower oughta wrap it all up rather nicely."

"Alright. Ashley, Kaidan, you can direct our new krogan friend here to the _Normandy_," Shepard commanded.

The two soldiers saluted before turning and walking away, Wrex following close behind. I can already tell that the biotic krogan is gonna drive Ashley up the wall; their personalities are pretty much destined to clash. And Kaidan will no doubt watch with amusement, not bothering to take a side when they begin arguing about some random subject, most likely about gender equality.

After they left, it was just the four of us.

It was at that moment that the room began spinning, and I felt a strange feeling in my gut. You ever get the blend of apprehension and excitement when you're waiting in line to ride an insanely awesome roller coaster for the first time? This was very similar.

I slowly looked over at Garrus, and then, right in front of my eyes, he _changed_! While his visor and basic head structure remained the same, a gruesome-looking scar ran up the right side of his face, and his black and blue C-Sec armor was replaced by a more stylish blue, black, and silver. I then glanced at Tali, who was now wearing her ME2 exo-suit, purple visor and all.

Finally, my eyes landed on Shepard. While her armor hadn't changed much, now having different shoulder pauldrons and a smoother look, her face had become full-on Renegade. Glowing scars covered the right side of her once-pretty face, and her hair looked disheveled and dirty. But the worst part was the red eyes, piercing into me. They looked haunted, broken. And somewhere, in the back of my mind, the voice of Malcolm McDowell reverberated throughout my very soul.

"_These eyes will deceive you, they will destroy you. They will take from you, your innocence, your pride, and eventually your soul. These eyes do not see what you and I see. Behind these eyes one finds only blackness, the absence of light. These are the eyes of a psychopath_."

I mashed my eyes closed, cursing with every fiber of my being the Reaper that had brought me here, and was now screwing with my sanity. I swear to God, if I end up like Isaac Clarke...

"Hey Matt, you okay?" came a flanged voice.

I opened my eyes and noticed a few things. One, the three people in the room with me were all back to their normal ME look. Two, they all had their eyes on me. Three, I was leaning against a nearby wall for support. Four, sweat was running down my forehead.

Shit, make something up!

"Yeah, I'm okay," I manage to say. "Just tired. Never used my biotics so much in one day." Which was actually true.

The commander tilted her head in concern. "Should I have someone take you to the _Normandy_?"

I shook my head and stood up straight, removing myself from the wall and wiping the sweat from my forehead with my newly-acquired jacket. "Nah, I'll be fine."

Shepard didn't look convinced, but she refrained from arguing. "If you say so. Let's head for the Tower."

I manage to smirk a little. "Right behind you, boss-lady."

* * *

><p>Jesus H. Christ, what is <em>wrong<em> with these fucking elevators?

I'm not kidding, they are slower here than in the game, no bullshit! If I ever find the guy who designed these things, I'm shooting him in the knees, elbows, balls, stomach, and head. In that order.

I'm leaning against the wall of the elevator, looking out through the window they so graciously provided as the only source of entertainment on this godforsaken machine.

While I had an enormous fear of heights as a kid, I had managed to move past them in high school. Still, looking out over the horizon at how high we were, it made a twinge of the old phobia come back to send a chill down my spine. If I'm still with the crew by the time the Battle of the Citadel comes around, I'm gonna be walking vertically up this thing. And still moving faster than the elevator.

Meanwhile, Tali, Garrus, and Shepard are having a conversation about their favorite weapons. As one would guess, Garrus is a sniper rifle fan, Tali likes shotguns, and Shepard's in the assault rifle camp.

"What about you, Matt?" Tali's voice snaps me out of my thoughts as I turn to look at them.

"I've never used anything bigger than a pistol in my life. I'm no soldier, guys," I explain, shrugging. "Of course, if they made one-handed machine guns, I wouldn't mind having one of those."

Shepard cracked a smile at that. "The word you're looking for is 'SMG', submachine gun. And we can find one for you onboard the _Normandy_, as soon as we train you in its usage."

Wait, there are SMGs now, in ME1 time?

Ah, fuck it, I'm not even gonna try to understand this warped reality anymore. Just go with the motherfucking flow.

...

And I just realized I have no idea what class Shepard is. She's most likely a soldier, due to her love of assault rifles, but I refuse to assume anything anymore.

"So, commander, what kind of training did you get in the N7 program?" I ask.

She blinks in confusion at that. "What do you know about the N7 program?"

I shrug. "Only that it supposedly trains the best of the best in the Alliance."

The commander smirks. "Then you heard right. I was taught the basics in weapons in hand-to-hand, obviously. I started as a regular soldier, but the N7 program allowed me to also train as an infiltrator."

...

What the _fuck_? She's a soldier _and_ an infiltrator? That is so OP!

"So what does an infiltrator do? Is that like a space ranger or something?" I ask, grinning to myself.

"A what?" Shepard frowns. Garrus and Tali share looks of confusion.

"What is a 'space ranger'?" Tali asked, saying the word as if it were in a foreign language.

Shit, nobody in this time period knows Buzz Lightyear. Well that's just great. My humor is outdated by about 200 years.

"Never mind. Old movie from the twenty-first century I watched when I was a little kid," I explain.

Garrus's mandibles twitch a little at that, while Tali cocks her head to the side in confusion.

"Let's just forget about it," I say quickly, turning back to Shepard. "Anyway, what skills did they teach you?"

"Well," she begins, raising her hand to her chin in thought. "I was given even more extensive hand-to-hand combat training, for one thing. And they made sure that I could use a sniper rifle effectively at practically any range. Then they threw in a cloaking mod for my Omni-tool, and I was taught a few tech abilities here and there."

"Like Overload?" I guessed.

She nodded.

Before anyone else could ask another question, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Oh, thank God, that shit is over!

"Ladies first," I offered, gesturing to the opening. Shepard smirked and shook her head as she walked by, followed by Tali. Garrus and I walked out at the same time, and I got my first look at the inside of the Citadel Tower.

And by 'first look', I mean 'high resolution version of the game Citadel Tower'. Seriously, exactly the same. Christ, this is really not impressing me at all. Why can't some things be different? A little variety wouldn't fucking hurt!

We walked down the familiar hallway to the first set of stairs, trees sprouting up on either side of us. Climb up the stairs, there's the fountain where we meet Garrus for the first time. Go around the fountain. Up more stairs.

Now we're at the open area right before we reach the Council Chambers. Looking around, I take in the benches, trees, and different species standing around. Humans, volus, salarian, turian...

Ah, shit. Elcor.

It's not that I hate elcor, I'm no racist. It's just, I can't look at them the same way since Scott and Jacob ruined them for me. Scott sent me a video of what an elcor sounded like during an orgasm.

"_In pure ecstacy: Yes, yes, oh God yes._"

Fuck, I think I'm gonna start laughing. Don't lose it, Matt...

Then there was the time Jacob asked how elcor move (seeing as how you never see their movements in the first game). Deciding to be funny, he had said they moved around like a South Park character, just sliding over the floor without movement, making a scraping sound as they go.

...

Quickly, I cover my mouth with my hands to prevent my laughter from ringing out around the Tower.

Fuck you Scott, and fuck you Jacob!

Good thing I'm at the back of the group; I'm able to avoid attracting suspicion. I really don't wanna explain my thoughts about elcor sex to Shepard, Garrus, and Tali.

...

What is _wrong_ with me?

Oh, look, there's Anderson. I manage to calm myself down just as we reach him.

"Come on, Udina's submitting the evidence to the Council," he ordered, and the four of us followed him up the stairs without hesitation.

And there's the balcony, with Udina standing on the end of it. Further ahead are the three biggest idiots in the Mass Effect universe, actually managing to make Conrad Verner look like fucking Stephen Hawking. I can't wait for ME3 to come around, if only to walk right up to their fucking faces and do the air quotes.

"_Ah yes, 'Reapers'. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly laying waste to Earth. Dismiss that fucking claim!_"

That oughta be interesting.

Anyway, the recording is just wrapping up as we stand at the edge of the balcony behind Udina, looking up at the Council members. Asari in the middle, salarian on the right, fucktard turian on the left. Alright, let's make us a human Spectre!

"You wanted proof? There it is!" Udina declared with a hint of victory in his voice. Oh yeah, why not just tell them you got it yourself, tough guy? Say you shot up Chora's Den and ripped a damn krogan's mouth wide open!

"This evidence is irrefutable, ambassador," the turian says, and I'm really hoping I hear a little defeat when he says that. Yeah, suck it, bitch! "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, and all efforts will be made to bring him in for his crimes."

Yeah, bullshit.

"I recognize that other voice, the female one," the asari says. "Matriarch Benezia."

Yep.

"Who's Benezia?" Shepard asked.

"Matriarch's are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives, revered for their wisdom and experience. They serve as guides to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a skilled biotic, and she has many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren," the asari councilor responds.

Uh-huh.

"I'm more interested in these Reapers. What do we know about them?" the salarian asks.

The squad looks at me.

...

Oh, fuck all of you!

I clear my throat and step forward, realizing that I was being stared at by the most politically powerful beings in the galaxy. They were idiots, but they were high-ranking idiots. And I'm an eighteen-year-old wearing casual clothes and carrying a pistol. What a contrast we have here. I make sure to speak loud enough for the Council members to hear me.

"All I know is what some idiot I used to know told me. The Reapers were a highly advanced race of machines that wiped out all sentient life in the galaxy, including the Protheans. Then they just vanished."

There was a moment of silence as the trio took it all in, their eyes still on me. This is making me real uncomfortable...

Fortunately, Shepard steps in here. "The geth worship the Reapers as their gods. They believe Saren is the prophet for their return."

And Anderson is back up to the plate. "We believe this Conduit is the key to their return. Saren's trying to find it, which is why he attacked Eden Prime to get to the Prothean beacon."

"And does the boy know what this Conduit is?" the turian asks, his eyes burrowing into me.

"Don't know. The guy never mentioned a Conduit before. Just went on about our 'inevitable genocide' or something like that," I respond, shrugging.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers," Shepard interjects. "That's bad enough."

The turian councilor snorts in derision. Prick. "Listen to what you're saying. Saren wants to bring back the race that wiped out the galaxy once already? Impossible, it has to be!"

Oh, wait for it. He's on a roll.

"Where did the Reapers go? Why did they leave? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found _something_!" he continued.

Well, to answer your questions: Dark space, to wait for the next cycle of extinction, and they're very fucking thorough. Next question?

"I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to listen. Don't make the same mistake twice," Shepard warns, sounding like she's getting close to losing her patience. Truthfully, I am too.

"This is different," the asari councilor states. "You proved Saren is a traitor, and that he is using the geth to look for the Conduit, but we're unsure why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, commander. A convenient lie to bend the geth to Saren's will," the salarian says calmly.

I actually heard the smacking sound as Shepard's hands clenched into fists. She stepped forward aggressively as she spoke again in a snarl. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, make no mistake, it _will_ happen again!"

Oh shit, Jennifer Hale's angry voice. I think I'm getting a little turned on...

That's not creepy, right?

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. His Spectre status has been revoked; he no longer has the rights or resources of one of the Council's agents," the turian says, causing me to roll my eyes.

My mouth is moving before I can stop myself.

"You must know that it'll take more than that to stop him. He was one of your best agents, and now he has his own private army. One that doesn't need to worry about sleep or food," I boldly claim.

The turian's eyes narrow, while Udina spoke up. "The boy is right! We know Saren is hiding in the Traverse, send your fleet in!" he roared.

What's with all this 'boy' bullshit, anyway? I'm eighteen for God's sake!

"A fleet cannot track down one man," the salarian retorted.

"A Citadel fleet could lock down the region and prevent the geth from attacking any more of our colonies," Udina explained, having managed to regain his relatively calm demeanor.

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems!" the turian scowled. "We won't be dragged into a galactic conflict for a few dozen human colonies!"

I quickly bite down on my tongue to prevent myself from yelling at the bastard. Yeah, you won't help the humans, but I bet you'd send every damn ship you have to protect turian colonies, wouldn't you, cockbite?

"Send me after him," Shepard's powerful voice rings out, loud and clear. "I'll take Saren down."

The asari cocks her head in thought. "The commander is right. There is a way stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."

Ah, here we go. Spectre time!

"No, it's too soon!" the turian declares. "Humanity isn't ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

Shut the fuck up, you hypocrite. We're not ready? You're the one who can't get over his anti-human attitude.

"It's a win-win situation. The Council doesn't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre," Shepard says calmly. "And besides, I think I've proven myself ready, don't you?"

The Councilors all look at each other, while I glance over at Garrus and Tali. I lean in quickly and whisper "You may wanna record this!"

The trio type a few commands into the consoles in front of them, while Tali readies her Omni-tool at the exact same time.

"Commander Katelyn Shepard, step forward," the asari commands.

And then, for some reason, Shepard looks over at me and throws a weak smile before doing as she was told, her face becoming serious once more as she faced the Council.

Huh, this situation is less epic without Jack Wall's amazing score playing in the background. Well, I always said the problem with reality is the lack of background music. Guess that applies to video game realities too.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," the asari began.

And the speech begins.

Salarian Councilor: "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

Asari Councilor: "Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

Turian Councilor (aka Captain Dickhole): "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

Damn, I know I've seen this at least a dozen times, but it's so much different in real life than it is watching it from a TV screen.

"You are the first human Spectre, commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species," the asari finishes.

"I'm honored, Councilor," Shepard responds, bowing in gratitude. Ah, such manners. Udina, take notes!

"We know Saren is in the Traverse, and as a Spectre, you are authorized to do whatever it take to bring him to justice," the salarian says.

Shepard smirked confidently. "I'll find him."

With that, the meeting is adjourned, and Shepard turns back the rest of us.

And while the commander chatted with Udina and Anderson about supplies needed for the upcoming hunt for Saren, I turn to talk to Tali and Garrus.

"Did you get all that?" I asked.

The quarian girl nodded. "Yes, the whole thing."

I grin almost evilly. "Upload it to the extranet. See how many hits the first human Spectre gets in a day."

"Hm, that ought to be interesting," Garrus says, his mandibles twitching.

"Alright," Tali says amicably, pushing a few buttons on her 'tool.

I chuckled lightly and turned, only to almost jump back in surprise as I saw Shepard standing there a few inches away from me, arms folded over her chest and her eyebrow raised in amusement.

"So, first human Spectre," I begin teasingly. "Hope you remember to give a little credit to the motley crew who brought you the evidence. You know, make sure you don't forget to put us in your best-selling autobriography."

The commander laughed lightly at that. "Believe me, I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of the four of you walking into the Embassy. One of the weirdest moments of my life."

I couldn't stop myself from grinning. "Well, _Spectre_, care to lead us to the ship?"

"My pleasure, _Mr. Crowe_," she responded, just as sardonically, though still smiling.

"Just call me Matt. Everyone else does," I say.

She shrugged. "Alright. Matt it is."

Oh yeah, I think me and Shepard are gonna get along just fine.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I know I said Matt was gonna be on the Normandy in this chapter, but the word count got away from me. And I know there wasn't really action in this chapter, but that's gonna change soon. So next chapter is the first time on the ship, Matt's check-up with Chakwas (what could happen?), and the beginning of his training. It's gonna be brutal!<strong>


	5. Kiss Me Deadly

**Wow, chapter five already. Normally this is my "sink-or-swim" chapter when it comes to writing fics. Well, here we go.**

**And I know it took a while, but you know, college, prom, girlfriend, parties, graduation, work. Life is hectic, and every last one of my friends kept borrowing my ME games, so that didn't help...**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit<em>." - Aristotle

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

No matter how many times I had seen it in the game, walked through its halls, chatted with its crew, or watched it get blown away by Collectors on a TV screen, none of it could actually compare to seeing the _Normandy_ in real life. Even if the SR-2 is bigger, more comfortable, and better equipped, it's still not the original ship that blew Sovereign straight out of the fucking sky.

And that just makes me wonder more. Am I actually going to see Sovereign? Am I gonna be around to see the _Normandy_ destroyed over Alchera?

Shit, my head's starting to hurt.

Anyway, after the whole Spectre induction for Shepard, we had all decided to call a rapid transport to our location instead of taking the elevator all the way back down (thank Christ), and headed for C-Sec to board the _Normandy_. Looks like Shepard's not bothering with any side quests right now. Shame, really. I kinda wanted to see if Conrad Verner was in this universe. That waould have been thoroughly enjoyable, for me at least. Shepard, not so much.

On the drive there, we chatted about typical subjects, and what the commander was going to do now that she was a Spectre. She just shrugged, saying that she would rather focus on stopping Saren instead of wondering about her career options.

Concentrating on the here and now. I like that.

...

Once again, creepy thoughts.

Not to mention when we got here, the C-Sec cop at the docking station for the vehicle began to treat Tali like a suspect, asking if she stole anything or if she was a vagrant. Garrus, the noble bastard that he is, got all up in the turian's face and growled at him to back off. I thought for sure a fight was gonna go down until Shepard stepped up and explained the situation to the dipshit officer. After that, Tali was left alone.

So, yeah, I'm admiring the ship, standing a few feet away from Garrus and Tali, who are chatting over the ship's design and capabilities while Shepard talks to Anderson and Udina, who had been conveniently awaiting our arrival. Kinda spooky. I mean, were they just standing there, waiting for us the whole time like in the game, seemingly having nothing better to do with their time?

Well, I'm getting off-topic here. Besides, I can't even hear their conversation over Tali's pure exhuberance. Damn, she's really excited about serving on the _Normandy_. Almost like the Nintendo 64 kid, except more control and less fist-pumping going on.

Can't blame her though. Quarians love their ships, and the _Normandy_ is one of the best. Hell, it _is_ the best. The _Millennium Falcon_ don't got shit on this baby!

And somewhere, Scott, the biggest _Star Wars_ nerd I know, is roaring in anger.

After a few minutes of taking in the ship's details and listening to Garrus and Tali's continued conversation, Shepard walked over, looking pale.

"You okay, boss-lady? You look like you're about to throw up," I note, preparing myself for two situations: Either she faints and I catch her, or she barfs and I jump away. Either one works.

Her face broke into a humorless smile, though she still didn't look good.

"I just found out Captain Anderson is stepping down. The _Normandy_ is mine to command now," she said in a tired voice.

"Oh," I say, feigning surprise. Yeah, 'cause I _totally_ didn't know this was going to happen anyway. Garrus decides to jump in here. "Well, isn't that a good thing? We need a ship to catch Saren, and Spectres don't answer to anybody except the Council. Can't have things like rank holding you back."

"I know, I know. It just feels like I'm stealing the ship from him," she explains, rubbing her temples.

"Not your fault, boss. If you have to blame anyone, blame the asshole who caused all this," I said, hoping to alleviate her guilt by pointing her toward our primary target.

The change was instantaneous.

The guilty, pale look was gone, replaced by a fierce determined look that was actually quite intimidating.

"That reminds me: Apparently Captain Anderson was nominated to be the first human Spectre. Long story short, Saren sabotaged him and ruined his chances," she told us. Once more, old news.

Tali and Garrus were speechless.

My response is probably more predictable: "Motherfucker."

She nods in agreement. "No matter what, we're taking this son of a bitch down. You guys with me?"

Garrus: "Hell yes."

Tali: "Without a doubt."

Me: "Wouldn't be here otherwise."

* * *

><p>Ah, the <em>Normandy. <em>How long's it been? Feels like a lifetime ago, really. Getting thrown into an alternate reality that I used to see as nothing more than an amazing RPG can really screw with one's sense of time.

Anyway, once we exit the decontamination cycle, I immediately turn to the left, looking into the cockpit (immature giggle) to see my favorite crippled pilot. And lo and behold, there is the great Seth Green, with his shitty legs and trademark hat. Wonder how well we'll get along. Considering the fact that we are immature bigmouth smartasses, I think we'll do fine.

Shepard continues to lead us down the hallway, giving us a bit of a tour. She points out the galaxy map (which is off-limits to anyone other than the CO, apparently) and the meeting room before taking us down the flight of stairs to the crew deck. We get odd looks from the crew the whole way, and a bald guy that I recognize as Navigator Pressly threw Tali and Garrus a dirty look.

You'd better cut that shit off, Pressly. I don't accept racism on my ship.

Meanwhile Shepard explained the ship to us. First floor was the CIC, second had the med-bay and break room/kitchen (if you could call it that), then the elevator could take you to decks three and four. Deck three was the crew quarters, bathrooms, and gym, complete with punching bags, weightlifting equipment, and a ring. Good, somewhere I can practice my kickboxing. Deck four was the hangar bay, armory, and engineering.

It may not be as snazzy as the SR2, but it's still a damn fine ship.

A few moments later, Shepard points me to the med-bay, where I had to get my examination done if I wanted to work in the field. Cool. Time to meet Doctor Chakwas in the flesh.

In no time at all I'm shirtless and sitting on a bed while the doctor scans me with her omnitool. "So, Mr. Crowe, you're in good shape for someone your age," Carolyn Seymour's voice rang out, bringing back memories of _Gears of War _and Serrice Ice Brandy.

I shrugged. "Uncle always told me to keep in shape. Six years of kickboxing and constant exercise kept me good and healthy."

Complete bullshit, of course. Only sports I played were occasional basketball and baseball, and I ate junk food nonstop. The fact that I never had a single cavity is nothing short of a damn miracle.

"Good. Any less and you wouldn't be usable for ground team operations. And you don't have an omnitool?"

I winced. "Had one. Before waking up from a night of drinking and gambling to find it gone."

Chakwas rolled her eyes. "Of course. You young people and your endless need for loud music and stupid decisions.

I grinned. "Jealous?"

"Don't make me get the scalpel, young man. I've had many years to-" the Doctor's threat was cut off by the intercom, and Shepard's voice began to ring out across the ship.

"_THIS IS COMMANDER KATELYN SHEPARD SPEAKING. OUR ORDERS HAVE BEEN MADE CLEAR: FIND SAREN AND STOP HIM BEFORE HE FINDS THE CONDUIT. I'M NOT GONNA LIE TO YOU; IT WON'T BE EASY. _

_"EDEN PRIME WAS JUST THE START; A DECLARATION OF WAR. BUT NOW, HUMANITY HAS TO DO ITS PART. FOR TOO LONG OUR SPECIES HAS STOOD APART FROM THE OTHERS. NOW'S OUR CHANCE TO STEP UP AND SHOW THE GALAXY WHAT WE CAN DO! _

_"AND WHEN WE GO INTO THE TRAVERSE, WE WILL FIGHT. WE WILL FIGHT BECAUSE IT IS OUR DUTY TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF THE GALAXY. ON EVERY WORLD THE GETH STRIKE, WE WILL BE THERE. WE WILL **NEVER** SURRENDER. FOR THE ALLIANCE, THE COUNCIL, AND CAPTAIN ANDERSON..._

_**WE**. **WILL**. **STOP HIM**."_

With that, the intercom shut off, and I sucked in a deep breath that I had not realized I was holding.

"Sure is charismatic, isn't she?" I ask, a slight hint of hero worship sneaking into my voice.

"That she is," Chakwas laughed, pushing a few more buttons on her 'tool. "Well Mr. Crowe, it seems you have an out-of-date bio-amp. We could probably replace it with an Alliance spare we keep around here..."

The doctor walked over to her desk terminal and sorted through a few screens, while I felt a shiver run down my spine. I didn't know what the hell I had plugged into the back of my neck. What would happen? Would I fall into a coma and see that Reaper again? Would my biotics flare out of control? Christ, why are there always complications?

I jump a little as Chakwas speaks up. "Here we are, a standard-issue Polaris IV should do fine until the Council delivers some more advanced amps. Being part of a Spectre's crew comes with many perks."

"Sweet. Thanks doc," I say, giving a nervous smile. "So how would we go about swapping the amps?"

"Fortunately for you, modern technology has made amp transfers much simpler. If this were ten years ago, you'd have to undergo a six-hour surgery that would leave you sick and bedridden for a week or so."

Oh, that's a fucking pleasant thought.

"All I need to do is track it down in our storage area. Then I'll just inject you with a light anesthetic and swap out the little bugger. Easy."

I frown. "What's the anesthetic for?"

"Well, the amp is wired into your spinal cord, so removing it would cause a brief bout of sharp pain until we replaced it. Much like pulling a tooth, actually."

Huh. Guess that makes sense.

"So when do we proceed?" I asked, hopping off the table and putting my shirt back on.

"Give me two hours to find you a new amp, a new omni-tool, and to sterilize the med-bay. The last thing you'll want is a dirty bio-amp. It would be much like that old Earth disease, gangrene."

I winced at that. I read Stephen King's short story, _The Death of Jack Hamilton_, which really described gangrene in detail. I really didn't want that happening to me.

"Need my help with any of that?" I ask, slipping on the jacket I stole from Chora's Den.

The doctor waved a dismissive hand. "Go ahead and tour the ship. I'll have Joker ring you when I'm ready."

Sweet. "Thanks again, doc," I say as I walk through the med-bay door.

* * *

><p>Well, good news and bad news.<p>

Good news: I'm going to deck three to check out the crew deck, which did not exist in the original game. I'm excited to see what it's like.

Bad news: The elevator. Is so. Fucking. Slow.

I almost feel myself crying for joy when I step out of the elevator, and into the long hallway that makes up deck three. At the other end I can see the gym, ring and all. On either side of me are doors, stretching down the entire hallway. Each door had a number on it, and I saw that the odd numbers were on the left while the evens were on the right. Alright, crews' quarters, then. As I reach the end of the hallway, there are signs indicating bathrooms, men on left and women on right.

I walk into the gym and glance around, taking in the large elevated boxing ring, punching bags hanging from the ceiling, weight-lifting equipment, treadmills, the whole shebang. I get ready to leave when I hear a loud "_Hrk_!"

Pausing, I look around once again and see no one. As I get ready to leave once again, I hear another grunt. This time, I can safely bet that the person making those noises is on the other side of the ring, where I can't see them.

I slowly walk around the square ring, glancing around the corner to see a familiar figure doing pull-ups on a group of bars hanging from the opposite wall.

Commander Katelyn Shepard was wearing a black tank-top and matching short-shorts that accentuated her toned legs and, since she had her back to me, firm... _backside_.

Yup, I'm checking out Commander Shepard. I just might have a deathwish.

"You done staring at my ass, kid?" came Jennifer Hale's teasing tone as she continued pulling her body up to the pole.

I smile, deciding to step lightly or risk getting chucked out the airlock.

"I can't admire a work of art from afar?" I ask, grinning as I walked over to the wall and leaned on it, allowing Shepard to make eye contact with me. Of course, keeping that eye contact was difficult for me, since her tank-top turned out to be cut quite low.

"Is that why you came down here? Just for the show?" she asked, smirking.

"I was just touring the ship, learning my way around. Might stay for the show, though," I admitted, glancing appreciatively at her body.

She barked out a laugh. "You've got guts, I'll give you that."

I shrug, allowing a lull in the conversation, the only sound being her tight breathing. It's kind of nice, really. Since I was dropped in this universe, I haven't had one moment of peace and relaxation. But here, alone, with Shepard in a quiet environment...

It made everything feel a little better.

"Nice speech you gave earlier," I say, going fishing for a conversation. "You have a real talent with words, don't you?"

At that, Shepard dropped down and let out a deep breath, cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders. "Lots of people tell me that actually. I never really plan it out, I just say whatever comes to mind. That's all."

She then smiled warmly at me. "But thanks for the compliment."

Her warm smile then became a mischievous grin as she cracked her knuckles. "Think you can dance and talk at the same time?"

Wait, what?

"You want me to..." I trail off, holding my fists up in a questioning motion. She nodded and began walking over to the ring, forcing me to control myself so that I don't stare at her swaying hips.

"This is for the whole 'ass' thing, isn't it?" I ask as I climb under the rope and stand in the ring.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The fact that she smirked while saying this didn't fill me with confidence. "Besides, I heard you had some fighting experience. Let's see if it's enough."

Great. My first hour on the _Normandy_ and I'm sparring the CO. Fan-tucking-fastic.

She makes the first move, lunging forward and throwing a simple left jab. My body reacts instantly, knocking away her first with an elbow and retaliating with a front snap kick from my right leg. Shepard jumps back and raises an eyebrow.

"Good reflexes. Now let's mix things up a little..."

With that, she runs forward and begins throwing punches toward my face, chest, and stomach. It's all I can do to block or dodge every blow. Right haymaker, dodge right. Left uppercut, left hand block.

I can't just go on the defensive the whole time, I gotta fight back.

My slight lack of focus gives Shepard an opening, and she suddenly drives her fist into my stomach. I gasp in pain as the air is expunged from my lungs, forcing me onto one knee as she jumps back, allowing me to catch my breath as I wrap my arms around my stomach. Fuck, she's tough.

This is gonna be a pain in the ass.

* * *

><p><strong>Shepard<strong>

In truth, I didn't mind that the kid had been staring at my backside. In fact, I almost appreciated it. Most men only see the soldier, the legend, the hero of Elysium, yada yada yada. They all seem to forget that I am a woman, and that I would value companionship just like any other sentient being. Unfortunately, the only guys to approach me are either drunk pigs trying to impress their friends, or guys like Alenko who are too uptight for my tastes.

So to see one normal guy, even if he was more than a decade my junior, finally look at me as if I were a regular woman was a very nice change of pace.

Of course, I was his commanding officer, and I had to ensure that he knew that. Hence the sparring match.

Coughing a little, Matt stood up and pulled off his jacket, chucking it outside the ring. For such a young guy, he had quite a set of muscles. If he entered the Alliance, he could probably make N7 in a couple of years.

"Alright, boss-lady," he said, opening his stance into something a little more experienced. He was finally getting serious. "My uncle told me it's not polite to hit a woman. But I think he'd make an exception for you."

I smiled at that. "You talk big, but can you deliver?"

The kid just grinned and lunged, jumping into the air and throwing a snap kick. He was trying to force me on the defensive.

I could play along for now.

I blocked his kick, but the second he landed, he was on me. I'll admit, he had a lot more power behind his blows than I expected. I could feel light bruises growing on my arms as I blocked his every attack.

He shot his right hand forward, toward my face. I caught his fist, only to double over in pain as his knee slammed into my abdomen.

"An eye for an eye, Shepard," he said, taking a few steps back as he let me recover. Big mistake.

I stood straight and ran forward, throwing a roundhouse kick that he didn't expect, slamming into his ribs and knocking him over. "And a tooth for a tooth, Crowe," I shot back as he grabbed his side. His icy-blue eyes looked up, and I could tell he was getting mad.

He then rolled forward, like a ball, toward me. When he landed on his back, he launched both legs forward toward my chest. I managed to catch his feet in time, wrapping them tightly in my arms so he couldn't break free. Imagine my surprise when he suddenly used his abdominal strength to pull himself up and threw a haymaker into my left cheek.

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

Holy shit, how did I do that?

I never had thay kind of abdominal strength before; I was just taking a chance with that stupid cannonball move. And now, after I managed to slug her pretty face, she dropped my legs, causing me to land on my back while she stumbled back a step. I shot to my feet quickly, just in case she recovered.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, rubbing her cheek.

"Beats me," I shrug. "I pulled that move out of my ass."

"Improvisation? That's a good quality to have in battle," she praised, smiling with what appeared to be... pride?

I smiled sheepishly, then got back into my fighting stance. Shepard was used to the muscles in her body, and she was well-trained in hand-to-hand. I was still adjusting to my new state of physical fitness, and I hadn't practiced my kickboxing for a few years now. I was out of touch.

Shepard also held her fists up, and we charged at each other.

* * *

><p><strong>Shepard<strong>

While the kid had a lot to learn, he sure wasn't helpless. He was in a lot worse shape than me, with a black eye, busted lip, and quite a few bruises here and there. I myself had quite a few bruises too, including the one on my face, and about half a dozen near my stomach. I noticed he seemed to be avoiding taking swings at my breasts, though I might think him a pervert if he was. Gotta give him bonus points for that.

We had just finished up the sixth 'round' of our match, and he was beginning to look exhausted. I'll admit, I was having too much fun. But how to squeeze one last round out of an eighteen-year-old kid who practically knew he couldn't win?

...

I just met the kid, so I can't believe I'm actually gonna do this. But, desperate times and all that.

"Hey, Crowe!" I shouted across the ring.

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

I look up from my heavy breathing to acknowledge Shepard's calling my name. Damn, she was a crazy-good fighter. I hadn't had my ass kicked like this since... Well, ever. She's just that good.

I'm about to tap out when she says something a little strange. "How about we make this a little more interesting?"

I blink in surprise, but allow her to continue. She gives that mischievous smirk as she walks over, stopping a few feet away and folding her arms over her... attention-grabbing chest. Damn, I'm really starting to become a creeper. But the fucking way she's dressed! It's almost as bad as the jumpsuit Miranda Lawson wears!

"If I win this next round, you wear pink armor on the mission to get the Matriarch's daughter," she offers.

...

Oh hell to the naw!

I'm about to say something along the lines of 'fuck that' when she says her next line.

"You win, and I'll give you a special prize. Something very hard to come by."

I freeze. That sounds interesting.

"Wow, you're good with words even in a fight," I manage to say. How the hell does she do that? Is it the sexy voice (curse you Jennifer Hale!) or just the specific words she chooses?

"It's just what I do. Either you take the deal, or you don't."

Damn, I'm in a bind here. On the one hand, if I walk away, I look like a wimp in front of the badass Commander Shepard. If I lose, I wear pink armor, and the squad will never let me forget it. But if I win...

If Commander Shepard considers it a special prize, how can I refuse?

"Alright, Shepard. I'll play along. Just be ready to cough up that prize when you lose."

* * *

><p><strong>Shepard<strong>

The kid's overconfidence was going to cost him big. But if he only knew the prize he could win...

I would never do it for the other crew members. So why him? What makes this boy so special?

He jumped forward, throwing a straight punch toward my stomach. I grabbed his arm and twisted him around, grappling him and flipping him over, landing him on his back.

"Come on, kid," I tease. "How are you supposed to win my prize if you fight like that?"

"That... was just a test," he wheezed, panting as he slowly pulled himself off of the floor.

"A test for what?"

"To see how badly I could do here. And it looks like I have a _Kobayashi Maru_ on my hands," he admitted.

A what?

He seemed to notice my confusion, and smiled as he leaned on the rope to the ring. "A _Kobayashi Maru_ is a no-win scenario. There's no way I can beat you. You're too good, and I'm out of practice."

I raised an eyebrow. "So one punch and you're already giving up?"

He looked into my eyes, and grinned. "Of course not! There's one way to beat a _Kobayashi Maru_."

"And what might that be?" I ask, having a bad feeling about the answer.

"Simple: I have to cheat."

Before I could react, his biotics flared up, and with one flick of his hand, a biotic blast shot out and slammed into my gut, sending me flying back into the rope. Before I could recover, the rope fired me toward the boy, who stuck out his hand to clothesline me.

My chin hit the arm and forced me to the ground. Everything seemed to hurt. Just from one simple move!

"You," I manage to say. "Cheating bastard."

He kneeled down and smirked. "You never explicitly said 'No biotics', so why not?"

Dammit, I hate loopholes. The kid knew how to play politician, I'll give him that. But while he was so close...

I twisted around and drove my fist into his face. The boy toppled over, winding up on his back much like myself.

"Cheap shot," he uttered as he twisted, pushing himself up with his arms.

"Look who's talking," I shoot back as I began to stand up, only to be knocked down with a low blast of biotic power. On my back again, I watch as Matt stumbles over, and drops to his knees.

"I think I win," he coughs out, extending an arm to assist me up. Heh, a gentleman even at the end. I respect that.

"You cheated, but I'll let it slide," I say as I grasp his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet.

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

I feel kinda dirty, considering I had to cheat to beat Shepard, but come on! It was like fighting Clubber Lang or something, the crazy woman was unbeatable!

But she seems to be taking it in good humor as I haul her to her feet. Damn, I'm sore.

"Alright kid, even though you broke the rules, you won. Guess I need to give you that prize," she said. Before I could say anything, though, she roughly grabbed me by my shirt. I shut my eyes tight, expecting her to hit me for cheating or knee me in the balls. But neither of those things happened.

Instead, I felt something soft on my cheek. Something warm and... nice. I opened my eyes, and almost fainted from shock.

Commander Shepard was kissing me on the cheek.

And before I knew it, she pulled away, smiling at the look of surprise on my face.

"Told you it was something hard to come by," she teased as she released me and pulled away. "But just remember: I'm way out of your league."

And with those parting words, Shepard began to walk away, and I'm almost certain she put an extra sway in her hips just for my entertainment.

"Next time, no biotics!" she yelled over her shoulder as she turned into the womens' restroom.

...

What the fuck just happened? I play-flirted with Commander Shepard, I sparred Commanader Shepard, I got a fucking kiss on the cheek from Commander Shepard! Was she just teasing me, a boy more than ten years younger than her? Was she trying to welcome me to the ship in her own quirky way? I mean, I knew some strange girls in my days back home, though none were as hot as Shepard.

So what game was she playing wi-

...

Wait.

Did she just say 'next time'?

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, now don't burn me, but there's a reason for the kiss on the cheek and the whole flirting thing. Just have a little patience and faith, and I'll reveal all in due time. And I feel this chapter was a little rushed, but next chapter is good old Therum and Liara, so I'll have fun there.<strong>

**On a side note, Mass Effect 3 is an amazing game, screw anyone who says otherwise. The Extended Cut fixed the endings, and that's that. And the multiplayer is disturbingly addictive.**

**Anyway, reviews appreciated, and a shout-out to fellow SI writer TheRev28. Love his "Welcome to the Family" series, it really inspired me to do this, even more so than "Masses to Masses" or "Mass Vexations".**

**Gotta add that the Shepard in this story is meant to look like the default FemShep from ME3, just for future reference. Also, for Shepard's speech, I combined the dialogue from the game and the cold narration from SWTOR's Trooper trailer, which Jennifer Hale also narrates. God, I love her voice!**


	6. Jump In The Fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect.**

* * *

><p><em>"We're on an express elevator to hell, going down!" <em>- Private William Hudson, _Aliens_

"_If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?_" - Joan Baez

"_Nothing confuses a man more than a woman driver who does everything right._" - Unknown

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

It didn't take long for me to get in and out of the med-bay, new biotic amp and omni-tool installed and ready to go (and some chastising from Chakwas while she fixed up the damage Shepard gave me). The 'tool interface was surprisingly easy to figure out, after about five minutes of experimenting. This thing has more features than Steve Jobs could have ever dreamed of! Flashlight, extranet access, camera, medi-gel, communications, and video games. Turns out, even in the far future, Sudoku and Solitaire are still standards. I even managed to install pinball (you flick the bumpers with your index and pinky fingers, apparently) and an MP3 player.

And of course, the best part is that the _Mass Effect_ universe has all the songs from my own universe. Everything from the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix to Avenged Sevenfold and Theory of a Deadman. As for Rap and Country songs? Fuck 'em, not my style.

As for my new bio-amp...

Well, we'll be hitting Therum tomorrow. Might as well practice with my biotics. But first, I'm gonna explore the rest of the ship, considering the fact that my last attempt ended in an ass-kicking and a teasing kiss on the cheek, which was still making me flip out. I'm almost afraid to run into Shepard again, fearful of what she'll say or do.

But yeah, after another terrifyingly slow descent in the ship's elevator, I walk into the garage and glance around. Garrus and Tali were tinkering with the Mako, while Wrex was on the other side of the garage where Ashley usually stood, checking his shotgun. I shrug before heading over to the Mako, deciding Garrus and Tali will be more open to chatting than Wrex.

"Didn't know we had a tank down here," I say casually, deciding that I'd better stay ignorant if I didn't want my cover blown. Tali glances over while Garrus keeps his hawk-like eyes glued on the circuit board he was working on. At least, I assume it's a circuit board. Technology isn't really my thing.

"Hey Matt!" Tali says, her voice possessing an upbeat quality to it. Ah, Tali, your happy-go-lucky attitude and cheerful exuberance really make you lovable. The hips don't hurt either, of course. "It's called the M-35 Mako. Shepard says we might have to take it out on Therum, so we're making sure it's in top shape."

She then cocked her head as she glanced over at the tank. "But my translators aren't sure what a 'mako' is. Garrus doesn't know either."

"It's a shark," I respond, placing a hand on the large vehicle. The Mako's a bit bigger than in the game.

"A what?" Garrus asks, glancing over and racing an... eyebrow? Would turians call them eyebrows? Eye plates, maybe? Eye ridges? Hell with it.

"An animal back on Earth. Sharks are underwater predators, and the mako's one of the most vicious," I explain. "Here, let me pull up a picture."

I flip on the 'tool and, after about thirty seconds, I have an image of a mako shark on the screen. Garrus's mandibles twitch.

"Impressive creature," a deep voice rumbled, causing me to jump and whirl around.

"Jesus Christ, Wrex!" I yell, clutching at my chest to calm down my racing heart. The krogan chuckles lightly, while Tali leans on the Mako. Apparently Wrex surprised her too. Garrus remained suspiciously impassive.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You knew he was there, didn't you?"

"Yes," he replied calmly.

"And you didn't feel the need to say anything?" Tali snapped.

"Not really."

"Bosh'tet," the quarian mumbled, folding her arms over her chest. She can be cute, but you really don't want Tali mad at you. She _does_ have a shotgun, after all.

I shake my head at their antics and turn to the krogan. "So, Wrex, what brings you over here?"

"You," he answers. I blink in surprise as he nods his head in the direction of the weapon bench.

"O-kay," I say as the krogan begins lumbering back to the other side of the garage. "I'll talk to you lovebirds later."

"Lovebirds?" Tali asks, sounding mortified. Though if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was blushing under that helmet. Likewise, Garrus immediately begins working on his calibrations again, avoiding all eye contact.

Seriously, what the hell is going on with this ship? Shepard flirts with me, Tali and Garrus are getting kinda close...

It's like the _Normandy_ has become some kind of horrible fusion of the _Love Boat_ and the_ Event Horizon_.

Anyway, I'm at the weapon bench, and there's about a dozen guns of different builds lying around it.

"Shepard told me to give you a crash course in weapons to see what you'd be most effective with," Wrex explained as he picked up a familiar orange and silver pistol. A Carnifex.

"I'm guessing you didn't volunteer for the job," I said, seeing as Wrex didn't seem like the mentoring type.

"You'd be right," he grunted, putting the pistol back down on the bench. "I told her you'd be better off with one of the humans, the Lieutenant or that big-mouthed female."

I have to resist laughing. What, you're saying Ashley is subtle or uncompromisingly polite?

"But the Commander insisted I do it since we've already fought side-by-side. Said I'd know what you'd be best with. She also wanted me to teach you a little about biotics."

At that, the krogan turned a red eye on me menacingly. "I don't have patience for cowards or weaklings, whelp. If I'm being forced to take you under my wing, you _will_ become a fine warrior, with both guns and biotics. And if you die from stupidity, I'll piss on your grave."

...

Ah, shit. This is more Ra's al Ghul than Qui-Gon Jinn. Why can't things just be simple?

"Okay. No pressure there," I mutter.

"Here," the battlemaster says, shoving a pistol into my hands. "Let's see how you handle an M-5 Phalanx. It even has a laser sight for rookies like you."

Fuck you, Wrex.

I roll my eyes and look around. "What exactly am I shooting at?"

In response to my question, Wrex began glowing blue, and a group of medium-sized boxes began floating into the air near the end of the garage, near the large ramp that the Mako drove out of. "Shoot to kill," he ordered as the crates began moving in random patterns.

The asshole was giving me moving targets! Unbelievable.

Okay, let's see. The Phalanx has a comfortable grip, it's pretty lightweight. I slowly take aim, both hands on the grip, just like dad taught me back on my Earth.

There!

I begin opening fire, the Phalanx making a weird _krikang_ noise as it shoots. There's very little kickback, and the gun is accurate. It fires twelve shots before it overheats, but I manage to hit a good chunk of the targets in that time. Once the familiar _beep beep beep_ begins emitting from the gun, Wrex allows the crates to fall back to the ground.

"Hm," he grunts. "Not bad. But you're going to need more firepower than that if you want to survive."

He walks over, yanks the Phalanx out of my hand, and pushes a different gun into it. I lift up the new gun and recognize the M-9 Tempest, my favorite SMG from _Mass Effect 2_.

"Same drill as last time," Wrex rumbled as he began glowing blue and the boxes rose up again.

This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

><p><strong>Shepard<strong>

Thinking back, maybe Wrex wasn't the best choice to teach the kid how to shoot. Honestly, I would have chosen Alenko, but the Lieutenant was currently suffering an L2 flare-up, so asking him to discharge loud weapons and train Matt in biotics probably wouldn't be helpful to his current condition.

After I had a shower and Chakwas fixed up the bruises Matt inflicted on me, I ordered the ancient krogan to teach the kid the ropes.

So now, here I am, in my Alliance blues, heading down to the garage to see how Wrex and the kid are doing.

Truth be told, I don't know how he'll react to seeing me. After all, getting a kiss from one's superior officer would drive most soldiers up the wall. Fortunately, he's not a regular soldier.

Guess I'll see his reaction for myself when I get down there.

Once the elevator doors open, I step out, and immediately see Matt and Wrex standing at the end of the garage, with Garrus and Tali watching from near the Mako. Matt had his eyes closed and appeared to be concentrating, and after a few seconds, his eyes shot open, and he flung his right arm out. A blast of biotic power, about the size of a softball, flew from his hand and hit a nearby crate, sending it flying into the wall and causing it to break apart from the force.

Then I blinked in surprise when Wrex began laughing and slapped the kid on the back.

When I asked him to do this before, his exact words were "I don't have time to teach a little _pyjak_ how to use his biotics." When I ordered him to do it, he didn't look pleased. At all. But now he appeared to be liking his new teaching job, and Matt looked proud of himself. The sight made me smile.

I walked over to Garrus and Tali. "So how are they doing?"

"Considering they were ready to kill each other ten minutes ago, I think they're doing great," Garrus responded, a hint of amusement in his flanged voice.

"What happened?" I ask, wondering how they wound up like this if they were getting angry at each other.

"Wrex began to yell at Matt when they began using shotguns. Something about Matt flinching when he fired a round and kept missing because of it. Matt began yelling at Wrex, and they looked like they were about to start fighting," Tali explained.

"So how did they go from fighting to... this?" I questioned, gesturing toward the two laughing biotics.

"It was so fast," Garrus shrugged. "Matt tossed the shotgun onto the ground, got up in Wrex's face..."

"And Matt headbutted him," Tali finished.

...

He did _what_?

"Just reared his head back and laid it on him," Garrus said in response to my questioning look.

"And Wrex didn't cripple him or anything?"

"It's kinda funny when we think back on it. Tali and I dived behind the Mako, expecting all hell to break loose. But there was just this long silence, really tense. Then Wrex began laughing, like he is right now."

"He began laughing? _Seriously_?"

The turian nodded. "After that, they began getting along much better. Wrex loosened up a little and Matt began improving his technique. Win-win."

"I thought for sure we'd have to drag that poor boy up to the med-bay," Tali admitted.

"Sounds like it. I'm gonna go make sure they're okay, though," I say, giving a small wave goodbye as I leave the two and head over to Matt and Wrex.

When I get halfway there, I notice a large bruise forming on Matt's head. Looks like Tali and Garrus were telling the truth.

"Looks like you're doing well, rookie," I tease when I get close enough.

"Was there ever any doubt?" he chuckles.

I smile a little and look over at Wrex. "So what do you think? Will he do well?"

"He's good with a pistol and SMG. Give him more time and he'll do well with a shotgun," the krogan explained. "The assault rifle needs work, and whatever you do, do _not_ give this kid a sniper rifle. He can't hit shit."

Matt gave a sheepish smile at that.

"But considering how little experience he has, the kid's good with his biotics. He can Throw and Pull better than some asari commandos I know. Give me a few more days and I'll have him tossing Warps, maybe Shockwaves."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Considering how gruff he was before, Wrex seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I think we'll call it a day. Bring the kid with us tomorrow and we'll see how he does," the krogan finished, giving the kid one last light punch on the shoulder before walking past me and toward the elevator.

"So, it seems you can't have one training session without getting some kind of injury," I note, nodding towards the kid's bruised forehead.

He grinned. "I'm guessing Tali and Garrus already told you what happened."

I nod. "You just headbutted a krogan. I just _have_ to know what part of your brain thought that was in _any_ way a good idea."

"I heard it's a sign of krogan dominance. To show who's boss. And Wrex was pissing me off," he admitted, shrugging. "After that, it was just fine. He said I had a 'quad'."

He leaned in a little closer for what he said next. "Good thing he didn't kiss me. _That _would have been weird."

I laugh at that, feeling a deep sense of relief that he isn't getting nervous or awkward around me. We can still hold a civilized conversation without things getting weird, and I'm grateful for that.

"Come on, hotshot. I imagine you'll want to see your bunk after the day you just had," I offer.

"Lead the way, Red."

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

My head hurts like a motherfucker!

Seriously, though, Wrex needed to get off my ass. I'd never handled a shotgun before in my life, how can he expect me to not be stunned by the recoil? After a few minutes of his bitching, I finally just said 'fuck it' and gave him the strongest headbutt I could muster. I managed to make his head bob under the power, but now it feels like a gorilla slammed a sledgehammer into my forehead. Thank God Shepard's leading me to my room, but at the moment, we're stuck in the elevator that moves at the speed of a turtle. You know, if that turtle had its legs cut off and an anchor tied to its body.

And I can't tell if the silence is awkward or not. Might as well get it out of the way.

"So yeah, is this an awkward silence or not?"

Shepard laughs. "Does it feel awkward?"

I shrug. "Not really, but I figure it couldn't hurt to ask."

The amusement in the commander's eyes dims a little. "Look, if you feel uncomfortable about the kiss-"

I cut her off. "I don't feel uncomfortable about it. It was kinda nice, actually."

She stops and blinks, looking at me in confusion.

"I'll admit, I was freaking out at first," I admit. "The legendary Commander Shepard, wiping the floor with me then planting one on my cheek? That _would _make most guys lose it."

She begins smiling once again, and I continue speaking. "But I don't think it should ruin our working relationship. We _will_ be watching each others' backs, and I don't want to take a bullet just because I couldn't figure out why a hot CO gave me a kiss."

...

Uh-oh, that mischievous glint is back in her eye right as the elevator doors open. "Hot CO, huh?" she asks, stepping out onto the crew deck, her hips swaying just the tiniest bit more than they normally should.

There are fifteen doors on either side of the hallway, meaning the doors are labeled 1 through 30. We stop in front of door 23.

"Normally, each room holds two bunkmates. Guys are the left rooms, girls are right. Since you're last-minute, you get your own room."

I raise an eyebrow. "What about Garrus and Wrex?"

"Garrus is bunking with Kaidan. Wrex can barely fit in the rooms, plus he said he'd prefer the garage."

I nod and hit the panel on the front of the door, allowing it to slide open and show me my new room. It's kinda small, about the size of a large closet, but that's military bunking for you. Two beds are there, each with a datapad lying on the pillows, and that's about it.

"Yeah, I'm gonna crash. I still can't believe all this shit happened in just one day," I say quietly, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion I never could have imagined.

"Well, I'm taking you with us when we hit Therum tomorrow, so try not to sleep in," Shepard warned playfully.

"No promises, Red," I retort, leaning against the wall with my hands in the jacket pockets.

"You got a problem with my hair?" she asked, lifting an accusing eyebrow.

"No, I just give nicknames to anyone I spend an extended amount of time with. The longer you know me, the more nicknames you get. And for you, I'm gonna stick with 'Red' for now," I explain.

It was true. Back home I called my father many nicknames, including gramps, schmuck, old timer, caveman, the relic, and Mr. Gray... What? He turned fifty when I was thirteen! You can't say he wasn't old compared to me!

"Ha," Shepard chuckles. "You're cute, so I'll let you hold on to the nickname thing."

...

Did she just call me cute?

"Well, I think I'll leave you be. 'Night, _Matty_," she says, putting extra emphasis on my name.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?"

...

Did I just fucking say that?

What did I just say?

I didn't think it, my mouth moved on its own! Oh shit, why won't my legs let me run?

I slowly look up at Shepard's face, unsure of what to expect...

A warm smile being the last thing I expected to see. The commander roughly grabbed my jacket and pulled me forward, between her and my doorway.

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." she said huskily, pulling me closer until I can feel her breath on my face. My eyes widen as our lips draw closer to one another. Christ, her lips are so red and big and _luscious_...

My thought process is cut off as she firmly shoves me backwards, into my room, and on to my back on the floor. I quickly look up to see her standing in the hallway, grinning evilly.

"Sorry kid, but no more than once per day. Sweet dreams."

With that, she tosses me a playful wink before closing the door, leaving me alone in my room with what I'm pretty sure is a bulge in my pants.

What the fuck is _wrong_ with that woman?

* * *

><p><em>You will all, <strong>die<strong>..._

_**I AM SOVEREIGN**..._

_Take this, as a gift from teacher to student..._

_I missed you..._

_I thought I lost you..._

_The Reapers... are here..._

_We fight or we die..._

_There's a Reaper that needs killing!_

_That assassin should be embarrassed..._

_He did warn you not to overstay your welcome..._

_THIS IS FOR THANE!_

_Crucible_

_CRUCIBLE_

_(OhGodnotherpleasedon'ttakeherohpleaseI'lldoanythi ngjustdon't)_

_I AM THE CATALYST!_

(destroy)

_I AM THE ISCARIOT!_

(control)

i am the stranger

(synthesis)

_**WE ARE**__** ONE!**_

**CRUCIBLE!**

* * *

><p><strong>Matt<strong>

I jerk awake, sweat running down my face and my heart racing from the nightmare I had just experienced.

I quickly look around, seeing the walls of the cabin I had fallen asleep in. Yep, the whole _Mass Effect_ thing wasn't a dream. I have biotic powers. I'm part of the _Normandy _crew. I have a Shepard that teases me and my hormones.

Crazy bitch.

I look and see that I still have the datapad from last night on the bed with me.

After being relentlessly flirted with by Shepard and left in my... _condition_, I decided reading fiction would get my mind off of that damn redhead CO of mine. And it did.

I managed to find an interesting one about a detective named Shawn I. Anderson. Apparently, he's British, and he becomes a C-Sec detective with a turian partner whose name I honestly cannot remember. So yeah, apparently Shawn manages to blow up a spaceport and almost die from a gunshot wound not long after he starts working there. And the crimes are very interesting and well-written, but I'm much more interested in the character's personal life. I mean, seriously, this guy has very poor luck with women he gets involved with, like Otacon from _Metal Gear Solid_. Shawn's first girlfriend, a human, is kidnapped by a mad scientist, experimented on, and he has to euthanize her. Second girlfriend is a quarian, and they break up from a huge fight involving her father. His third girlfriend is a turian, and they have a love/hate thing going on, but the author's hinting that _she's_ gonna die, too.

I'm starting to think the author doesn't like his character very much...

I look over at the other bunk, and notice a pair of ship uniforms lying there. Looks like Shepard managed to hook me up before we left the Citadel. I quickly change my clothes, finding that the outfit hugged my body comfortably, though now my newly-enlarged muscles stuck out like a sore thumb. That's gonna be weird. So, I just shrugged and chucked my old clothes onto my bunk for now.

Anywho, time to get something to eat, my stomach is growling like a rabid varren.

As the elevator begins going up, I begin thinking about today's mission. Therum. We're gonna go get Liara, who, in two years, goes from nervous archaeologist to terrifying information broker. Funny how time and revenge can change people, isn't it?

Walking out of the elevator, I turn and see Kaidan and Ashley already sitting at the table, chowing down some breakfast provisions. They don't look too bad, but military food is almost always shit. Let's hope technology in this future changed that a bit.

"'Morning, ladies and gents," I say, tossing a wave at the two.

Kaidan waves in return, since his mouth currently has food in it.

"'Morning, rookie," Ashley returns casually.

I roll my eyes a little. 'Rookie'? I ripped a fucking krogan apart with my hands, woman! Let's see you pull that shit!

"Where can I grab me some of that _quality_ military food?" I ask in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone of voice.

Ashley chuckles and points over my shoulder with her fork. "Right there."

I turn and see a bunch of cupboards in the area Kaidan would stand at in the game. It looks a little different now, so I guess reality changed that little detail, too. There's also three stacks of about a dozen food trays each on a counter near the cupboards.

I walk over and crack open a cupboard, looking over a bunch of cylindrical containers, each one silver and about a foot tall. They all had small, black writing on them, detailing the contents.

I managed to find one that sounded appetizing and grabbed it, along with a water bottle, a fork, and a tray. I get ready to walk back over to my teammates, until I pause and look back down at the cylinder in my hands. Yeah, this amount's not gonna cut it. I'm gonna need more food than that.

When I finally sit at the table, next to Kaidan and across from Ashley, I have three of the cylinders, each with different food combinations in them.

Cracking open one of the containers, I dump its contents onto the tray, which was basically just a big pile of eggs, sausage, and ham.

"Breakfast of champions, eh?" I quip.

"Do you really need that much food, kid?" Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow as I crack open the second cylinder, this one with eggs, bacon, and cheese.

"He does, actually. Biotics need a lot of food intake for calories. Gotta make sure we have enough energy for the mission," Kaidan responded, defending me as I open the last container and dump it on top of the two others, adding shredded chicken to the mix.

"Plus I haven't eaten since before I got caught up in all this," I add, waving my hand around the ship in a dramatic fashion. "I'm so hungry I could eat our krogan buddy down in the cargo hold."

With that, I scoop up some of my breakfast mountain onto my fork and take an experimental bite out of it.

Hm, it's not bad actually. Not restaurant-quality, but it could be a lot worse. And I mean a _lot_. I've eaten fucking astronaut food, and _that_ is some disgusting shit.

"Speaking of which, we heard an interesting story earlier. Sounds like you and Wrex had a bit of a disagreement," Ashley said as I took another bite of food. I swallowed before answering.

"You probably heard right."

"Something about you headbutting him?"

"Do you not see the bruise?" I retort, pointing my fork up at my now-purple bruised forehead. Still gotta check in with Chakwas about that...

Kaidan snorted as he took another bite out of his food.

"Maybe you fell asleep on it wrong. How should I know?" Ashley answered, defending herself, though she had a slight joking smile on her face.

"You're in the military. Shouldn't you know a bruise when you see one?"

She shrugged. "Maybe I just don't care all that much."

I put down my fork and place my hands over my chest. "You wound me, madam. Wound me, I say. _Wound_!"

Kaidan, who had been drinking his water, began to laugh, causing a coughing fit as he slammed his cup back down on the table. I started slapping him on the back, Ashley laughing as she watched the scene in front of her.

After about a minute or so, Kaidan managed to stop his coughing enough to get back into our regular conversation.

"So, who do you think Shepard's gonna take on her to Therum today?" I ask, maybe a little too cheerfully.

Ashley narrowed her eyes at me. "She already picked you for the ground team, didn't she?"

"Mayhaps," I smirk at her, taking another bite of food.

"Why would she pick you? You're as green as they come," she inquired.

"Because I need to see what he can do," a familiar voice popped up to my right. The three of us whipped our heads around towards the Captain's cabin, from which Shepard emerged in her Alliance uniform, a slight smirk on her face as she strolled over and sat down next to Ashley, across from me. "Trial by fire is usually the best way to go in a situation like this."

"Yeah, lucky me," I mutter, taking another bite of food as I give the commander a mock glare. "Who else will be joining us?"

"First, don't talk with your mouth full," the redhead replied as she reached over and flicked me gently on the nose. "Second, I'm bringing Wrex, Garrus, and Ashley here."

"Oh, joy. You throw me in with the tough-as-nails crew members," I grumble after swallowing my food. "Couldn't bring along our gentle quarian or our mild-mannered Lieutenant here?"

Kaidan snorted as Shepard spoke. "Tali's on engineering duty for now, and Kaidan's having an L-2 flare-up."

"I promise not to make you look too bad, rookie," Ashley teases.

"And I promise not to engage in friendly fire, Chief," I retorted, forming a finger gun and aiming it around the table, at Ashley, then Shepard, then back to Ashley before lowering my thumb and 'pulling the trigger'.

The Williams laughed as she took a sip of water and stood. "Well, I'm gonna go ready my weapons and armor."

"Wouldja do mine too, pumpkin?" I asked in my best endearing voice, only to receive a middle finger for my efforts.

"Is that a yes or a no?" I called after her as she walked to the elevator, trying and failing to keep the smirk off her face. Yeah, people can't keep straight faces around me.

"Is that your way of flirting?" Kaidan asked, nudging me playfully. I glance over at Shepard and give her my best shit-eating grin.

"Nah. I prefer redheads who are way out of my league," I reply, nodding my head in the commander's direction.

"And don't you forget it," Shepard retorted with a smirk. "Now finish eating. Today's the day you get to experience the Mako."

...

Aw, _fuck_. I forgot about that.

The six-wheeled tank that can vertically climb mountains and gets fired out of the ship in the upper atmosphere.

I really hope I don't scream. Wrex would never let me live it down...

* * *

><p>An hour later, I'm wearing some grey armor with an M-3 Predator pistol, M-9 Tempest, and M-8 Avenger strapped to my body. It's light armor, so it doesn't really weigh too much, but it's not really comfortable. Nearby, Garrus is checking the tank, Wrex is examining his shotgun, and Ashley's strapping on her helmet.<p>

Shepard walks up to us wearing her trademark N7 armor, some hardcore weapons strapped to her back.

"Alright people, you know our mission," she says in her 'commander' voice. "We're here to find Dr. Liara T'Soni, daughter of one of Saren's agents, Matriarch Benezia. There's a Prothean dig site that's gone dark, so we're assuming hostiles, hence the tank."

We all nod in understanding.

"Wrex, you're on the cannon. Everyone else, buckle up tightly." She says that last part with an evil smile.

I sigh as I climb into the Mako behind Garrus and Ashley.

Alright, there's a seat that goes back to the room where you control the cannon, a cockpit seated for one person, and eight seats, two on the front and back, left and right of the small open area. So basically, this thing can hold ten people, easy. Cool.

I take a seat facing forward on the right side of the Mako, Garrus taking the left and Ashley taking the seat opposite me.

"Nervous, rookie?" Ashley teases.

I flip her off as I fasten my safety harness. Tightly.

Shepard clambers into the front, and Wrex into the back. The door seals shut behind us, and my heartbeat triples in speed. I don't particularly like small spaces, and I still have that teeny tiny fear of heights. Being dropped in a vehicle, albeit an _armored_ vehicle, from the goddamn _atmosphere_, might just make me have a panic attack. Maybe. Just a little one.

My hands tightly grip the arm rest as Shepard's voice from the front. "Alright people, our drop's in thirty seconds."

Oh shit, I'm freaking out.

"Twenty-five," comes from the cockpit.

I glance around. The Mako has no windows in this small space, most likely for protection. I guess that's a good thing, since watching landscape fly by might just make my puke out my breakfast.

"Twenty."

I look over at Ashley and Garrus, who seem awfully calm. Hell, Garrus looks _bored_. Son of a bitch.

"Fifteen."

I sigh and close my eyes, attempting to calm myself down.

"Ten, nine, eight,"

Aw shit, here it comes.

"Seven, six, five,"

Not sure if I'm gonna barf or shit my pants. Armor. Whatever.

"Four, three, two,"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck...

"One. Mark!"

The Mako lurches forward, and suddenly, I feel myself rise up slightly as we enter freefall. I feel the urge to scream, and then a few seconds later, the urge to cheer.

This is _awesome_!

Like Tower of Terror on steroids!

I feel myself grinning like an idiot from the experience, and then I realize something.

The landing.

That might be a little-

_WHUMP!_

I jump as we hit the ground, and my breakfast lurches in my stomach, causing my head to spin.

"Everyone okay back there?" Shepard asks.

"All good," says Garrus.

"I'm fine," Ashley calls out.

Wrex grunts.

"Fuck you all," I growl as I lean my head back, trying my damnedest to avoid throwing up all over Ashley.

That garners a laugh as we begin moving, the Mako lightly bumping over the terrain. I open up my omni-tool and begin playing solitaire. Any second now, the geth are gonna show up and begin firing on us. Might as well entertain myself until then.

Ten minutes later, the cannon fires, and I'm grateful that it's heavily muffled by the tank's armor.

My first mission has officially begun.

* * *

><p><strong>Damn, it's good to be back! Sorry about the wait, a lot of shit happened over the last year. Anyway, I'm back, thanks heavily to TheRev28, and his story Welcome to the Family. Gracias for the inspiration, bro!<strong>

**Bonus internet points if you can figure out what fanfic I'm referencing with the Shawn I. Anderson story. It's one of my favorites!**

**So yeah, this chapter was supposed to include the whole Therum mission, but the second half kinda got away from me. Reviews appreciated. Next chapter hopefully up soon!**


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